LIBRARY OF CONGRESS. 



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UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. 



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THE CURSE OF RUM 



OR 



THE INVINCIBLE CRUSADE 



AGAINST INTOXICATING DRINK 



BY 
ARNOLD H. BLANKMAN 



An Advocate of Freedom, an Enemy of Crime 
and a Friend to Humanity 




PUBLISHED BY THE AUTHOR 

1388 




z~ JL B . 






THE CURSE OF RUM. 



The following Work Is respectfully dedicated to the 

RUM DRINKERS AND THEIR FAMILIES, 

By the Author. 



•'Who falls from all he knows of bliss, 
Cares little into what abyss. 
'Tis true, that, like that bird of prey, 
With havoc have I marked my way. 
And let the fool still have his range, 
And sneer on all who cannot change, 
Partake the jest with boasting boys ; 
I envy not his varied joys. 
This bed of death — thou wert, thou art 
The cherished madness of my heart ! 
A serpent round my heart has twined 
And stung my every thought to strife." 

— Byron. 

The silver tongue, uttering words of golden truth. 

If you never take the first drink you will never die a drunkard. 

Once every ten minutes the curse of strong drink ends a human life. 



PREFACE 



The object of the author iu the following work is to 
deal fahiy with the subject, discussing the cause of more 
vice, more crime, more misery than all the combined 
powers of war, pestilence and famine. We have endeav- 
ored, in our work, to record facts as they have occurred 
under our own observations, from statistical reports, and 
records of criminal courts. Without regard to sect or 
creed, or hobbies of political parties, we have undertaken 
to compile a work composed of unmistakable facts which 
cannot be disputed by all the powers of corruption com- 
bined. The subject is one of vital importance, one upon 
which hangs the destiny of the whole world. We have 
set forth nothing but stubborn facts, thus placing before 
our readers a work much needed, showing the enormous 
traffic in intoxicating drink, and the misery, crime and 
expense arising from its effects.* We have discussed the 
matter with fairness, taking now and then confessions 
from condemned criminals, showing what brought them 
to prison and the gallows. We leave it with the reader 
to read and reflect. 



* "Name the most dangerous straits," said the teacher. 
"Whiskey straights," replied the student, promptly. 




STATUE OF LIBERTY ENLIGHTENING THE WORLD. 

" Witness, I believe you said yon wore a saloon-keeper?" " Yes, sir." "Do 
you know the prisoner at the bar?" "Well, that depends. When he has 
money about 'ini, I do; but when he wants me to put it on the slate, J don't " 

Let us practice what we teach; or take down the Statue of Liberty that re- 
flects its dazzling light over the four cities that aie deluged with rum. 




p&ft&U* 



STATUE OF LICENSE DARKENING THE WORLD. 

"License is not liberty, nor is liberty license: but one in direct opposition to 
the other. Liberty brings peace, prosperity, contentment, happiness, freedom 
and light. License is the mother of many evils; the parent of poverty, prosti- 
tution, darkness and crime. The great question of the present day is, which 
shall rule — liberty and light, or license and crime? One or the other must be 
driven from the country. Winch shall it be? There must be no compromise, 
no high license. Government should not, for revenue, mortgage the health and 
morals of the people; neither should it become partner in a business that is the 
chief corner-stone and foundation of universal crime. Give us light nadpeace." 



INTRODUCTION. 



In introducing our work to our readers, we would re- 
spectfully say that we shall be as brief as possible, 
setting forth nothing but facts, as they have occurred in 
our own times, and many of them within the memory of 
the reader : we shall not weave any sensational or imag- 
inary fancies, to draw the mind of the reader into a 
channel of bigotry or prejudice ; hoping these lines may 
not find them already in that narrow, contracted channel 
of views that often holds people in check from discussing 
matters with fairness, politeness and liberality. Equality 
and fairness are jewels which should deck every brow : 
principles fl^at should guide all men. Greeting the 
people of our boasted land of freedom with kind wishes, 
we will now set forth our declaration, which forms the 
basis of the following work : "We hereby declare that 

HUM AND ITS ALLIES ARE THE BASIS AND PLATFORM OF 

universal crime." \Ye shall offer proof of the facts of 
our case b} T introducing evidence and citing circumstances 
that have occurred under our own observation ; and many 
others that are taken from historical facts, from the rec- 
ords of criminal courts, and many from the lips of per- 



12 



INTRODUCTION. 



petrators of crime, in their confessions, when locked in 
their prison cells, awaiting the penalty of the law, to ex- 
piate their crime on the gallows, A description of a 
few of the different kinds of alcohol (for nearly all the 
liquors of commerce are adulterated with the most dan- 
gerous alcohols, caused by the increased consumption of 
alcohols, both as a beverage and in the arts, the demand 
for such spirits producing their effects promptly, and the 
great competition in the production of the various alco- 
holic liquors) is necessary. The following are the princi- 
pal alcohols found in various liquors : methyl alcohol, 
propyl alcohol, butyl alcohol, ethyl alcohol and amy! alco- 
hol. Methyl and ethyl alcohol are the least dangerous 
to health, and they are found in larger proportions in pure 
wines and good liquors than in the coarser ones. Propyl, 
butyl and amyl alcohols are found in large proportions in 
the cheap, coarse liquors. They produce their effects rap- 
idly and produce a more deleterious effect upon the ner- 
vous system than the first two. This is the reason that 
the heavy drinker of the upper class suffers less in pro- 
portion from his excesses than the heavy drinker of the 
lower class. The one of the upper class can afford pure 
liquors ; the one of the lower class is compelled to buy 
cheap liquors to satisfy his desires. But, after all, it is 
only a question of time, for continued and continuous ex- 
cess in good liquors kills just as certainly as excess in 
poor ones. Continued excess in the use of the liquors of 
fifty years ago, killed just as certainly as the liquors of 



INTRODUCTION. 1 3 

to-day, only it took a longer time to produce its morbid 
effects. When sufficient has been taken to be felt, we 
notice first the flushing of the face and brilliancy of the 
eyes ; the muscular power is greater and the intelligence 
more active ; ideas flow readily and anxieties are forgot- 
ten ; the future appears full of hope, while the past has 
lost its sorrows and regrets ; conversation becomes ani- 
mated and brilliant ; reason is thrown aside, while vanity 
and rashness assert themselves. Then the natural bent 
of disposition of the person is usually apparent. The 
man who is by nature sad becomes melancholy, the irri- 
table man becomes quarrelsome, the generous man lavish 
and the good-natured man becomes everybody's friend. 
Sometimes the reverse of this is the case, and we find the 
sad man becomes gay, the good-natured man becomes 
cross and the timid man bold. Some self-control still 
remains, however, and if the person stop drinking now, 
these phenomena all pass oif in a few hours, most com- 
monly in sleep, but sometimes without it. But if the 
drinking be continued, the person goes on in the same 
way, becomes hilarious usually and shortly incoherent ; 
all control of conversation and action is lost, reason is 
replaced by delirium and the man becomes a maniac, 
alike dangerous to himself and others, and liable, upon 
some sudden impulse, to commit crime. The gait be- 
comes vacillating and staggering ; words cannot be ar- 
ticulated. At length, unable to stand, he sinks to the 
ground and may become totally unconscious, so that it is 



14 INTRODUCTION. 

impossible to rouse him. Examples of the description 
given occur every day in our midst. Drunkenness is in- 
duced more rapidly, and with smaller quantities of alco- 
hol, in summer than in winter — in warm than in cold cli- 
mates. It is a fact, but may not be generally known, 
that some people become really insane from the con- 
sumption of even very small quantities of alcohol. They 
become furiously maniacal. A case, not long since, oc- 
curred in a neighboring county, where a young man was 
on two separate occasions adjudged insane by the court 
and committed to an asylum. Both times when he ar- 
rived at the asylum he was sane, and manifested no evi- 
dence of insanity during his residence there. In this 
case a small amount of alcohol made him furiously ma- 
niacal, so that the first time he nearly killed his sister 
with a knife, and the second time shot two unoffending 
passers-by on the street. In others, alcohol will produce 
convulsions. All persons suffering from nervous diseases 
and all persons of unsound mind are abnormally sus- 
ceptible to the action of alcohol. In general paralysis 
of the insane a propensity to alcoholic excesses is not 
rarely an early symptom, and they are affected very badly 
by it. Epileptics are easily affected by alcohol and it 
usually makes them violent and brings on a convulsion. 
Alcohol may produce death by its direct narcotic effects. 
It occurs rarely in drunkards. A number of cases have 
occurred in children. Murder has been committed in 
this way and suicide also. It is estimated that from one 



INTRODUCTION . 1 5 

to two ounces of absolute alcohol, diluted in the form of 
whiskey or gin will kill a child below the age of ten cr 
twelve years. Drunkenness is hereditary. Many idiots 
and imbeciles are born of drunken parents and a large 
proportion of the criminal class are drunkards and child- 
ren of drunkards. It tends to produce a direct mental 
deterioration ; particularly does it dull and finally extin- 
guish the moral sense. 

We repeat our declaration : "rum and its allies are 
the basis and platform of universal crime." Hence- 
forth we shall wage war with the utmost zeal, using every 
honorable means, against its manufacture and traffic ; de- 
claring it to be a deadly poison, its use being indulged in 
by the innocent, the youthful and the middle aged, until 
they acquire an appetite and form habits that eventually 
lead them into vice, crime, prison and the scaffold. The 
success of the liquor traffic depends wholly upon debased 
manhood and wronged womanhood. It holds a mortgage 
over every cradle, a deed written in blood over every hu- 
man life, and the devastating sword of drunkenness, pov- 
erty and crime over the nation. Shall mothers know this 
and be silent? Shall fathers understand and be indiffer- 
ent? Now, these being facts, be it resolved that the 
conflict is irrepressible and that we shall not lay down 
our weapons of warfare, viz., our pen, our voice and the 
ballot, against the manufacture and traffic in strong drink 
until victory has crowned our efforts and our country is 
frpe from its blighting curse. We base prohibition on 



16 INTRODUCTION. 

the ground that the liquor traffic is inconsistent with the 
general good ; that it is in hostility to every interest of 
nation, state and people ; that it wages deadly and per- 
petual war upon all these interests ; that it is an intoler- 
able public nuisance ; that it inflicts more mischief and 
misery upon our nation and the people in general than all 
other sources of misery combined ; that it is the inevit- 
able cause of all the poverty, pauperism, insanity, crime 
and premature death ; that it desolates and blasts 
thousands of homes that would be peaceful, prosperous 
and happy, were it not for this evil ; that it degrades and 
brutalizes the people, wastes the wages of labor and un- 
fits men for honest industry and thrift. Hundreds, yes, 
thousands of workers cast out as waifs upon society who, 
but for the rum traffic, could and would make for them- 
selves honorable places among men, becoming props and 
pillars to the state instead of a burden upon it and a 
grief and disgrace to all with whom they are connected. 
The liquor traffic is all this and more in its relation to 
society, while no benefit whatever comes from it to any 
public or social interest ; and now, if this is true, where 
is there an intelligent, unbiased man or woman that will 
maintain that this traffic ought to be established and pro- 
tected by law, and all the evils growing out of it perpet- 
uated to the end of all time ? 

We can never place our signature or give our sanction 
to a law that licenses man to deal out death and destruc- 
tion to his fellow-man. In our travels in Europe, Asia, 



INTRODUCTION. 17 

a portion of Africa, Australia and on the American con- 
tinent, most of our time has been occupied for the last 
twenty-five years and we have come in contact with 
people of almost every class, color, nation and descrip- 
tion. I have seen with my own eyes the evils that in 
many instances grew from the seeds of the sowing of the 
rum-seller and harvested by the rum-drinker. Their har- 
vest in many cases was asylums for the poor and the 
maniac ; prisons for the convict and for others the scaf- 
fold was their portion. Then we solemnly declare that 
if rum is the basis of crime, we may just as well license 
theft and murder as to license that which is almost 
certain to lead to it. Who is there among you, dear 
readers, who would sanction the licensing of crime of the 
deepest dye? We venture to say not one of you. Then 
why should we license men to deal in the diabolical stuff 
that forms the prop to the midnight prowler, a staff to 
the arm of the wicked assassin, the support of the thief, 
the burglar and the highway robber. It brings deso- 
lation, destruction and vice in our land, misery and want 
to the firesides of many a home. Then why, I repeat it, 
should we grant license to men to sell 

"That which makes the strong man weak, 

Licensed to lay the wise man low ; 
Licensed the wife's fond heart to break, 

And cause the children's tears to flow. 

Licensed to do their neighbor harm, 

Licensed to hate and strife; 
Licensed to nerve the robber's arm, 

Licensed to whet the murderer's knife. 



18 INTRODUCTION. 

Licensed, where peace and quiet dwell, 

To bring disease and want and woe ; 
Licensed to make this world a hell. 

And fit man for a hell below." 

In furnishing proof of our assertion that rum is the 
basis of crime, we will at intervals introduce evidence 
that is unmistakable ; evidence from those who have been 
participators in crime and are about to expiate their 
crime on the gallows. 

John M. Wilson was hanged at Norristown, Pa., Jan- 
uary 13th, 1887, for the murder of Anthony Daly. The 
following are his own words, which is but an abstract 
from his address to the public. It was very lengthy and 
while on the scaffold he delivered the principal parts of it. 

Gentlemen of Norristown : Faithful are the words of 
a friend but the kisses of an enemy are deceitful. I 
stand upon the brink of a never-ending eternity in ter- 
rible disgrace, and, barring the sympathy of a few 
Christian people, absolutely friendless in America. There 
is no need of a new confession. \Yhen delirious with 
whiskey I struck poor Daly and killed him outright. The 
fear of death by violence caused me to cover my crime. 
Having suffered with delirium tremens and the horrors, a 
combination of facts which, after I came here, had a ten- 
dency to advance the theory to my mind that it was 
possible for me to be guilty of a fearful delusion ; this, 
coupled with the belief of many that I could not be con- 
victed, caused me to plead not guilty, simply as a safe- 
guard in case of acquittal. I harbor no ill-feeling 



INTRODUCTION. 19 

gainst either the judge or the commonwealth. You 
must pull against the current of nature. Balls, theatres, 
dancing parties, drinking liquor, gambling, all that 
pleases wicked people is offensive to God. I used to 
love them. I hate them all now. Charity balls are 
nothing but white aprons for the devil. Almost six 
years ago I said my last good-bye to my dear old mother, 
when I left my home with a bible which had been placed 
in my trunk by her. If I had but heeded her Christian 
advice I would not have been here. To-day she sits 
heart-broken and disgraced, full sixty years of age, and 
weeps bitter tears over her boy's terrible doom. When 
my strangled body hangs between heaven and earth may 
all who look upon it imagirie they hear me say : 'This is 
the work of Rum.' Is it nothing to you, all ye that pass 
by?" 

A few days before his execution he made a will in 
which he bequeathed his body to Dr. Drake, the jail phy- 
sician. 

While writing the facts of the above evidence of the 
power of rum, there occurs to my mind very vividly a 
verse that I once heard quoted by a tramp printer whom I 
met in Utica, N.Y. His name was Waterman. He infor- 
med me that he at one time had a good situation and held 
a prominent position on the Louisville Courier- Journal. 
On this occasion he was in the bar-room of a prominent 
hotel making gestures for the purpose of entertaining the 
guests, who, in turn, would buy whiskey for him to keep 



20 INTRODUCTION. 

his steam up, as he termed it. I saw at a glance that he 
was possessed of great intellect, so I approached him on 
the subject of temperance. He seemed to regret very 
much his sad state, and quoted the following lines, which 
I have never forgotten ; 

* 'Wretch that I am, how often have I swore 
While rum was sold that I would drink no more ; 
I know the bite, yet to my ruin run, 
And see the folly which I cannot shun." 

Many has been the noble scholar, the statesman, the 
mechanic ; men of all grades, all professions, that have 
been ruined by the powerful effects of alcohol. I once 
knew a man by the name of Simeon Carey in Syracuse, 
N.Y., one of the best salesmen I have ever met. He 
would accumulate from three to five hundred dollars from 
his sales, then would start out on a drunken spree and in 
three or four weeks the money was spent, his clothes 
were in the pawn-shop and his family supported by the 
charity of their friends. At one time he had a book 
which showed an account with the savings bank with a 
credit of fifteen hundred dollars. He got on one of his 
drunken carousals which lasted four months. Every dol- 
lar was gone ; his credit was gone. He was sentenced to 
and served more than one term in the Onondaga Peniten- 
tiary for drunkenness and to-day he is a living monument 
of the total wreck that strong drink will make of men. 
And this is not an isolated case. His brother, older than 
himself, was for many years full as bad as u Sim," as he 
used to be called, but later the brother (Henry) signed 



INTRODUCTION. 21 

the pledge and become a sober man and went West, and 
has since died. 

We might enumerate cases that would run up into the 
thousands. Space will not permit us to enter into a long 
list of cases at present, but later on we will introduce 
cases of thrilling facts that ought to be convincing proof 
for the most skeptical that we have not set forth our de- 
claration too strong. Think, gentle reader, of the many 
cases of drunkenness that have come under your own ob- 
servation, where the fathers and husbands have spent 
their money for liquor ; look at the poverty and wretch- 
edness, cruelty and suffering it has brought in their 
homes, where they were once peaceful, quiet and brim- 
ful of happiness. There is not a city or town in our 
whole land that does not have its victims. Every city 
and town is a looking-glass that reflects its lights and 
shadows, and we need not go abroad to witness the 
scenes of destruction, of destitution, of prostitution, of 
misery and want ; we can look to the east, to the west, 
to the north and south and we see the seeds of evil, dis- 
tributed through the distillery, the rum-bottle and the 
beer-glass, and thousands of rumsellers that are willing 
to sow the seeds of ruin, regardless of what the harvest 
may be for the unfortunate drinker. The only excuse of 
the rumseller is they are not compelled to drink it ; yet 
they use every influence to urge them on. The most 
highly polished mirrors are placed behind the decanters, 
the decanters themselves being highly embellished ; the 



2 2 1KTR0D UCTION . 

mirror reflects double the brilliancy, but does not expose 
the poison that is lurking in the sparkling goblet ; the 
windows are illuminated in a gorgeous manner, and 
everything that can be done to give the rumhole a glow 
of beauty to entice the innocent into those dens of vice 
where the wicked have already congregated and become 
enamored by its subtle influence that coil around their 
victims, and, like the serpent with its irresistable charms, 
holds them in its iron grasp. 

In discussing the matter in view of being fair and 
liberal we choose to speak plainly and wish to be under- 
stood that we give to each and every one the privilege of 
thinking, speaking and writing or discussing the matter 
under our rules of freedom of thought, freedom of 
speech, freedom of the press, and we shall find no fault ; 
we will give the matter due consideration, hoping our 
readers will be as liberal and do the same by us, without 
letting their passions become aroused to an extraordinary 
height of anger. Should our readers fly into a rage over 
the contents of our work, let them lay it aside until they 
again become cool and remember that truth is more pierc- 
ing than the dagger, and it is the hit bird that flutters 
and makes the greatest fuss. Plain truth is what we aim 
to offer to the people of the world and we challenge the 
world's scrutiny. We shall offer facts and nothing but 
stubborn facts. Weigh them well, kind reader, and let 
your conclusions be drawn with fairness ; unbiased and 
without bigotry. 




THE HOME IN PROSPERITY. 



THE HOTEL IX POVERTY. 



"I only indulge in a glass of whiskey occasionally, with a friend, on account 

of the social enjoyment; I can drink it, or I can let it alone. Of course, I have 
plenty of cider in my cellar at home. That is too common: everybody drinks 
cider. It makes a fellow a little shiny, but no harm arises from it." 

Dear reader, you may think the same, but the stream grows deeper, it grows 
broader, the current is accelerated. Remember, you are floating down the 
stream . 



INTRODUCTION. 23 

Think of the thousands of once happy homes made 
desolate by the influence and power of the rum-built 
shame, where husbands and fathers have squandered their 
wealth and brought poverty and starvation within their 
dwelling, making drunkards of themselves and paupers 
of their families. Then take into consideration the 
amount of money paid out for drink in the United States 
during the past year — nearly ten hundred millions of dol- 
lars it cost our country for drink, while it cost only one- 
half of that amount for bread for the same people. To- 
bacco is closely allied to rum ; as a luxury it is indulged 
in to an alarming extent, though not near the wickedness 
grows out of its use. 

"We give below in actual figures the cost of liquors and 

tobacco for one year in the United States, with the actual 

cost of caring for paupers and criminals, saying nothing 

of bringing them to justice through the courts. 

The liquor debt for one year amounts to $976,000,000. 
Cost of caring for paupers and criminals, 8800,000,000. 
The consumption of tobacco, - 8600,000,000. 

Total for drink and crime, - - 82,376,000,000. 
For bread, - 8510,000,000. 

Beef and pork, - $300,000,000. 

Sawed lumber, - 8233,000,000. 

Cotton goods, - $210,000,000. 

Boots and shoes, •• $19,000,000. 

Sugar and molasses, $155,000,000. 

Public education, - . $85,000,000. 
Christian commission, $5,500,000. 

$1,694,500,000. 
Total for commodities, - - - $1,694,500,000. 

8081,500,000. 



24 INTRODUCTION. 

These figures show a cost of six hundred and eighty- 
one millions of dollars more for drink and tobacco and 
their effects for one year than all the other commodities of 
e very-day use, for comfort, education and benevolence. 

We shall now show the rapid increase of the liquor 
traffic in the United States. Our figures are correctly 
taken from the internal revenue reports. In 1865 the 
revenue from distilled spirits was $18,731,422, and from 
fermented liquors $3,734,928 ; in 1870, from distilled 
spirits, $55,606,094, from fermented liquors, $6,319,127 ; 
in 1880, from distilled spirits, $61,185,509, from fer- 
mented liquors, $12,829,803 ; in 1883, on distilled spirits, 
$74,368,775, from fermented liquors, $16,900,615. An 
examination of the reports of each of these years will 
show the correctness of our statements and the above 
figures will show: 1st, that the use of beer, ale, etc., 
has not lessened the use of distilled liquors. 2d. That 
the revenue being made the life blood of the nation, 
financially, it is the most dangerous element of corruption 
in political legislation and partisan government. Increase 
of population from 1860 to 1870, 22.6 per cent. In- 
crease in consumption of liquors during the same decade, 
44.55 per cent. Thus showing that during the ten years 
the ratio of increase in the consumption of liquors was 
more than double the increase in population. From the 
next decade, from 1870 to 1880, the increase in popula- 
lation was 32.7 per cent., while that in the consumption 
of liquors was 73.27 per cent., or more than two and one- 



INTRODUCTION. 25 

third times the ratio of increase ia population, Both old 
parties are arrayed in line of battle with '-Protection" in- 
scribed on their banner, but it is "protection for the 
liquor traffic." 

In the host arrayed against the freedom of humanity 
you will always find friends and supporters of the saloons, 
distilleries, breweries, dens of vice and immorality, the 
gambler, harlot, convict, libertine, some ministers of the 
gospel, a few christians, so-called temperance people and 
Satan. The lines are being drawn — purity against cor- 
ruption, right against wrong. 

Reader, which side are you on ? 

"Choose you this day whom you will serve." 

Prove by your ballot which you desire should be pro- 
tected, the home or the liquor traffic. 

Many is the time I have heard people make the excuse 
of not feeling well, or their appetite is not good ; that it 
does them good as an appetizer, or it stimulates their 
system to action. This may all be true, but let us con- 
sult Dr. Schenck's medical work, from which we quote 
the following: "Indiscreet people frequently rush to 
whiskey in many diseases. It has absolutely no curative 
power. It may make people oblivious to the disease 
while the effect is on, but disease goes on all the same. 
It inflames every coating and membrane it comes in con- 
tact with. It quickens circulation, but at the same time 
enters into and poisons the blood. It attacks the brain, 
brutalizes the mind, makes life wretched by its horrid 



26 INTRODUCTION. 

dreams ; far more, it turns peaceful death into a terrible 
departure. Whiskey never cured any disease, but has 
endangered thousands. It has its place in nature, but 
not as a remedy for disease. It is ruinous to trifle with it." 
It is plain to be seen in every-day life ; in the hotels, 
saloons and breweries throughout the land ; in the town, 
city and hamlet, as well in the country at large, that the 
youth of the land is by its influence led into bad com- 
pany, forming habits of disrepute, encouraged to acts of 
violence, led on from one step to another until they be- 
come criminals of the deepest dye ; forgetting the en- 
treaties and prayers of a kind mother and the wise coun- 
sels of an affectionate father. Young man, in those 
places habits are formed in an unheeded moment that, 
like the small acorn growing to the sturdy oak, cannot be 
uprooted by the powerful blast. So is the growing appe- 
tite of strong drink ; the appetite once acquired cannot 
be thrown off by your most powerful efforts. Once lost, 
lost forever ! Its effect is terrible. Stop, young man ; 
think for just a moment where you stand ; listen to the 
trembling voice of your neighbor, the old man, Garry 
Jenks, who, less than one year ago, bid you farewell for 
the last time, as he left Alton, the home of his lifetime, 
thinly clad, for his new and last earthly home in the 
Wayne County Asylum for the poor. All that is said oi 
him now is, "Poor Garry; gone the way of many a 
drunkard." "It biteth like a serpent and stingeth like an 
adder." When once chained within its coils from its 



INTRODUCTION. 27 

poisonous effects there is no retreat. Yes, Garry is gone 
the way of many a drunkard : foi in less than one year 
after leaving his old home in the town of Sodus, he died 
in the poor-house, and now the last remains of a lifelong 
drunkard sleep in a pauper's grave. I knew a Mr. Mil- 
ler, but a few years ago proprietor of the largest dry 
goods store in the village of Clyde, N.Y. Whiskey got 
the mastery of him. He also became an inmate of the 
Wayne County poor-house and died a pauper-maniac. 
There are thousands of cases every year in the United 
States where men are led on, step by step, through the 
influence of those who set strong drink before them, until 
they fill the graves of drunkards, and are buried by the 
charities of friends or find rest in the Potters' field, buried 
at the expense of the poor authorities and tax-payers. 

Stop, young man, stop and think, 

Before you further go; 
Do not sport upon the brink 

Of drunkenness and woe. 

Why don't the people rally when they see the burning shame, 
That, through Rum, is brought upon the Yankee nation ; 
When they see the fire is kindled, and is bursting into flame, 
Bringing Ruin, Riot, Death, and Degradation. 

Cho. — Let us rally 'round the standard ; run up the starry flag; 
Yes, we'll crush the dens of vice and human slaughter ; 
We'll flood the throne of Satan, where he rules in whiskey shops, 
And quench the fire of Death with pure cold w.iter* 

Oh ! do not be discouraged, for the time is near at hand 
When the people they shall rise to save the nation ; 
With cold water and the ballot, drive whiskey from the land ; 
Tis our country's only safety and salvation. 



28 INTRODUCTION. 

We're coming from the hillside, we're coming from the plain, 
We're surely coming with our votes and voices ; 
We can see the Star of Liberty now rising in the East, 
'Tis the star in which our nation now rejoices. 

We'll break the power of Alcohol, and burst the bonds of Rum, 
Drive Whiskey from its long- protected lair, 
And we'll c.ush the Demon's hopes of prison bars and ropes, 
And drive him to the regions of despair. 

Then the glittering Star of Happiness will shine throughout the land, 
And the serpent driven out from every home ; 
The bow of peace and sunshine will dwell in every heart 
When we've banished from our homes ii The Curse of Rum. 1 '' 

A. H. B. 
Alton, X.Y., Dec. 3, 1887. 



THE CURSE OF RUM. 



CHAPTER I. 

"The number of deaths every year in the United King- 
dom which are traceable to drunkenness is one thousand 
five hundred and ninety-two. It is calculated that the 
annual result of intemperance in the Kingdom is as fol- 
lows : deaths, one thousand five hundred and ninety-two ; 
insane, 3,350 ; crime, 6,140 ; sick, 84,000 ; loss of work, 
7,400,000 pounds sterling; extra taxes, 1,700,000 
pounds sterling. Liquor dealers pay an average of $2.00 
per gallon for whiskey. One gallon contains sixty-five 
drinks, and at ten cents a drink the poor man pays $6.50 
per gallon for his whiskey. In other words he pays $2.00 
for the whiskey and $4.50 to the man handing it over the 
bar, to say nothing about the water added. Now, if 
you must drink, make your wife your barkeeper. Lend 
her two dollars to buy a gallon of whiskey for a begin- 
ning, and every time you want a drink go to her and pay 
her ten cents for it ; if she waters it twenty-five per cent. 
— which will be none the worse for you — by the time you 
have drank a gallon she will have $7.12, or enough to' re- 
fund the $2.00 borrowed and have a balance of $5.12. 
She will then be able to conduct further operations on her 



30 THE CURSE OF BUM. 

own and when you become an inebriate, unable 

upport yourself and shunned by respectable persons, 
your wife will have money enough to keep you until you 
get ready to fill a drunkard's grave." — Family H* 

It is strange that men will not consider the cost of 
ok and also what it leads to — the ruin, the misery and 
stitution, : ohedness and crime it brings to the fam- 
ily circle and household. 

It turns husbands against their wives, fathers against 
their children, brc inst brother; it makes demons 

of men and a onium of the halls of legislature ; 

it lowers man below the brute and fits him for the poor- 
house and a grave in the Potter's field, unmourned and 
uncared for. It clothes him with rags and filth, and 
iks him down to perdition. It ruins many of our best 
d : it burns and destroys their vitality, weakens their 
frames and destroys their intellect ; their brains become 
paralyzed, their limbs palsied and they are a burden to 
themselves and all around them. Whiskey is their idol. 
Two old men nam ph Ferry and Richard Price, 

cousins, were found starved or frozen to death in their 
Philadelphia a short time since. 
men were misers. Pei least, was rich. They 

1 on the smallest amount of food and that of the 
vilest kind, though they imbibed whiskey pretty freely. 
y had lived in their miserable abode for a score of 
is and for eighteen years not a woman's hand had 



THE CURSE OP RUM. ' '31 

been at work in it, except once, when the Board of 
Health sent two women there to clean up the place on 
complaint of the neighbors. — Sunday Tidings, 

It seems as though men possessed of common sense, 
either young or old, should have gumption enough about 
them when they see on every hand the evils arising from 
the use of intoxicating drink, to form resolutions not to 
touch, taste, use, make or handle that which makes men 
foolish, ugly, miserable and wicked. Arouse ! ye sleep- 
ers, shake off the lethargy that hangs about you ; wake 
up sensibility ; teach your children the evil effects of 
strong drink ; exhort your neighbors ; advise your 
friends ; use your every influence in enlisting soldiers to 
fight in the temperance cause. Help to raise the banner 
of light ; help to put our greatest enemy to flight. Let 
us unite in the work of revolutionizing a system of tem- 
perance that will ultimately destroy the rum power. We 
must resort to the ballot as our weapon of warfare ; work 
earnestly, be diligent and thorough in soliciting and en- 
rolling soldiers to fight ; our cause is just. We have 
hoisted the prohibition banner, the banner of freedom. 
Jf we die fighting to sustain it we shall fall in a glorious 
work. We shall be wrapped in its starry folds and laid 
to rest, and others who dare face the furious storm will 
seize the standard that bears our glorious banner and 
carry it through the stormy conflict until success shall 
crown our efforts, and the starry banner of freedom shall 
wave over every home in our land. Let the words of the 



7 ":•:. 

brave Captain Lawrence ring oat from every tongne, 
46 Don't give np the ship." 

The :V.v s':.i'.\ z. :: :*:rever 5"iv. 

~;e z:3Jiv ::;!:- ?3rr:~ : 
The powers of rum are strong to-day, 

But peace shall rise to-morrow. 

E~: never = :rer. £-."_: — e ::r::~ : 

V.'zere i'~e vir.-^-^ri ::izit = ::-iiv. 

The rear shall rest to-morrow. 

N ! "don't give np the ship." The banner of free- 
dom floats at her masthead. Stand by her colors until 
her guns shall batter the walls of the stronghold of mm 
until they crumble and fall as did the walls of Jericho 
before the hosts of Joshua at the sounding of the trum- 
pet, and there shall not be a hiding place for rum in our 
country, and every rum-seller shall be banished from the 
earth. How bright would be our path, how delightful 
the land, how beautiful our walks of life, how peaceful 
our social gatherings, how full of sunlight and happiness 
our homes, if the vile, sin-cursed, hellish traffic of rum 
was forever put beyond the reach of wicked men. The 
innocent and unoffending child would not be led to r- 
lessness and final ruin by its flattering influences, the 
mother would not be compelled to wring her hands in an- 
guish and with heart full of sympathy and anxious with 
fear repeat, "O, where is my wandering boy to-night?" 

- - 



THE CURSE OF RUM. 33 

from the fatal influence of rum, which leads on, step by 
step, until at last the step is taken that casts her once 
noble and innocent boy within the walls of the dungeon, 
or perhaps the gallows is being erected while he awaits 
his execution for some crime that he has committed while 
under the influence of strong drink. Let me say right 
here, mothers, teach your children to shun the place 
where the poison is kept ; teach them to shun the rum- 
seller who traffics in the poison ; teach them to shun those 
who drink it ; teach them to become advocates of tem- 
perance reform ; teach them to become missionaries in 
the cause, and when they have grown to be men and 
women the world will be better for their existence,, 

Look for a moment at the evil of drunkenness, 
Whether in New York, Brooklyn, Chicago, Boston, Cin- 
cinnati or Savannah, or in any of the cities of the land, 
count up the saloons on the street where you live as com- 
pared with the saloons of five years ago and see they are 
growing far out of proportion to the increase of popula- 
tion. You people who are precise and particular lest 
there should be some imprudence or rashness in attacking 
the rum traffic will have your son some night pitched into 
your front door dead drunk, or your daughter will come 
home with her children because her husband has, by 
strong drink, been turned into a demoniac. The rum- 
fiend has despoiled whole streets of good homes in all 
our cities. Fathers, brothers, sons on the funeral pyre 
of strong drink ! Fasten tighter the victims ! Stir up the 



34 THE CURSE OF RUM. 

flames ! Pile on the corpses ! More men, women and 
children for the sacrifice ! Let us have whole generations 
on the fire of evil habits ; at the sound of the silver- 
toned trumpet let the people of nations fall on their 
knees and worship King Alcohol, or you shall be cast into 
the political furnace of degraded parties who seek to 
barricade the stronghold of the rum-seller and manufac- 
turer. We indict this evil as the regicide, the fratricide, 
the patricide, the matricide of the nineteeth century ; yet 
under what innocent and delusive and mirthful names al- 
coholism deceives the people ! It is a "cordial." It is a 
"bitters." It is an u eye-opener." It is an "appetizer." 
It is a "digester." It is an "in vigor ator." It is a "set- 
tler," and finally it is a "night-cap." Why don't they 
label it in accordance with the qualities it possesses ? — 
"essence of perdition," "conscience stupefier," "drachms 
of heartache," "tears of orphanage," "blood of souls," 
"scabs of eternal leprosy," "venom of worm that never 
dies." Only once in a while is there anything in the title 
of liquors to even hint their atrocity, as in the case of 
"sour mash." That is advertised throughout the country 
on bill-boards, on fence-corners, painted on rocks by the 
road-side, on the broad sides of farmers' barns and many 
times bills advertising it are pasted on the posts of sheds 
to country churches. It is an appropriate name, all can 
understand it. Sour mash ! That is, it makes a man's 
disposition sour and his associations sour and his pros- 
pects sour ; it mashes his body, mashes his soul, mashes 



THE CURSE OF HUM. 35 

his business and mashes the happiness of his family. 
One honest name, at least, for the hellish stuff. 

Through lying labels of many of the apothecaries' 
shops, many people who, wishing to procure something 
to tone up their system, have unwittingly got on their 
tongues the fangs of this viper that stings to death so 
large a ratio of the human race. Many are ruined by the 
all-destructive habit of treating customers. It is treat 
on their coming to town, treat while the bargain is being 
made, treat when the purchase is made and a treat as the 
customer leaves town. Others drink to drown trouble. 
The world is bruised and battered and blasted with this 
terrible evil. It is more and more entrenched and forti- 
fied. There are millions of dollars raised to marshal and 
advance the alcoholic forces ; they nominate, elect and 
govern the vast majority of the office-holders of this 
country. On their side they have enlisted the mightiest 
political power of centuries, and behind them stand all 
the myrmidons of the nether world — Satanic, Appolyonic 
and diabolic. It is almost beyond all human effort to 
overthrow this bastile of decanters or capture the Gibral- 
tar of rum jugs. But what gives us courage, our best 
troops are yet to come. Our chief artillery is in reserve, 
our recruits are hastening to the ranks. The campaign 
has fairly begun. We must take and hold the field, if all 
bell is on the side of rum Heaven is on our side. Now 
"Let God arise, and let his enemies be scattered." The 
evil is overshadowing all our cities. God help parents in 



3C THE CURSE OF BUM. 

the great work they are doing, to start their children with 
pure principles. God help the legislators in their at- 
tempt to put down this great evil. Is it not time for all 
lands to cry out "Let God arise." We do not ask Him 
to hurl a great thunderbolt of his power, but just to get 
up from his throne on which he sits. Only that will be 
necessary. "Let God arise." It will be no exertion of 
omnipotence. It will be no bending or bracing for a 
mighty lift. It will be no sending down the white-horse 
cavalry of Heaven, or rumbling war chariots. "He will 
only arise." Now he is sitting in the majesty and patience 
of His reign ; He is from his throne watching the must- 
ering of all the forces of blasphemy, drunkenness, im- 
purity, fraud and Sabbath breaking, and when they have 
done their worst and are most securely organized, he will 
bestir himself and say: "Mine enemies have defied me 
long enough, and the cup of their iniquity is full. I have 
given them every opportunity for repentance. The dis- 
pensation of patience is ended, and the faith of the good 
shall be tried no longer." And when God begins to i 
the manufacturers of rum shall meet their doom; the 
rum-sellers, who have trafficked in that which destroys the 
bodies and souls of men and families, will fly with sore 
feet on the down-grade paved with broken decanters ; the 
polluters of society, who did their bad work with large 
fortunes and high social sphere, will overtake in their de- 
scent the degraded rabble of underground city life 
they tumble over the eternal precipices and the world 



THE CURSE OF RUM. 37 

shall be left clear and clean for the friends 01 humanity. 
The last thorn plucked off, the world will be left a bloom- 
ing rose ; the earth, that stood snarling with its hellish 
passion, shall lie down in peaceful quietude, and the 
clanking of the decanters and beer glasses no more shall 
be heard ; the rum-drinker shall not be known, for there 
shall be peace on earth and good will to all men. So 
may it be ; speed on the ball. 

A SONG- WRITER'S DEATH DISAPPOINTED IN LOVE HE BE- 
COMES A DRUNKARD. 

At the City Hospital, Louisville, Monday night, in the 
presence of but two or three friends, Matt O'Reardon, 
one of the most popular song-writers of recent years, 
died. Young in years but broken down by disease, with 
shattered nerves and a wrecked mind, for a year or more 
he might have been seen lying about the bar-rooms, stupe- 
fied from strong drink, his fine features bloated and his 
eyes, that once kindled with the inspiration of song, 
glazed and heavy e Now and then a lover of music would 
stop in front of some familiar haunt of O'Reardon's to 
listen to a waltz or a reverie, played with the skill of a 
master. Sometimes, when fired by drink, he would sit at 
a bar-room piano and play some composition of his own 
with a fervor and a pathos that drew tears from those 
about him. Years ago, when a young man, he fell in love 
with Alice Oates. Whether the actress ever returned his 
affection is not known. He certainly thought she loved 



Z S THT 

him in return. One day he found ont his mistake. He 
was told that his love was not reciprocated. He im- 
mediately began to drink heavily and from that time to 
tie ::;-v o: his ii-?r.l if — :^ selir-m r're-r rrr-iL the infuenoe 
of drink. He obtained a number of engagements but 
broke them all. He could never be trusted to keep sober 
any length of time. Some weeks ago he was taken sick 
and Manager Whalen, of the Grand theatre, succeeded in 
raising a little money for him and getting him to the hos- 
pital. The very day he died Mr. Whalen received 
dollars from the actors' fund. It came too late, however. 
O'Reardon wrote "My Dream of Love is O'er" she: 
after his unfortunate love affair. He also wrote "Gather 
Shells from the Sea Shore," "Only an Ivy Leaf, 
riage Bells," and many other songs that have been sung 
all over the world. 

The above shows how sad is the fate of a drunkard. 
There are many who resort to the flowing bowl for the 
purpose of dispelling the gloom that hangs over them and 
ere the mist is gone which they have sought to drive 
away, they have sunk into a deeper gloom from which the 
dark veil can never be lifted. Noearthly power can di 
away the dark clouds that ever fill the drunkard's mind ; 
they Seek through one evil to drive away another, (an 
a general rule, to the greater, to drown the lesser) and by 
so doing the one combines with the other and the victim 
becomes engulfed and sinks beneath the turbid waters of 



THE CURSE OF RUM. 39 

everlasting ruin to rise no more. It is only adding fuel 
to the fire. 

a clergyman's views on the subject of intemperance. 

The following are extracts from a paper on inebriates by 
Dr. T. B. Crothers, of Hartford, read before the Insti- 
tute of Social Science, at New York City College in Feb- 
ruary, 1887 : 

"Inquiry in almost any direction would seem to indi- 
cate that one inebriate to every hundred persons is not an 
over-estimate. The mortality is very great, and is esti- 
mated at over ninety per cent. In direct heredity, 
moderate, excessive or periodic drinking parents are al- 
ways followed by inebriate children, either in the first or 
second generations. The first generation will either be 
inebriates or rigid abstainers, and always have marks of 
defect of some kind. The second generation will develop 
inebriety from the slightest exposure. Unless the stream 
of heredity is neutralized by a current of greater vigor, this 
generation will be found along the border line of insanity, 
manifesting many complex symptoms of mental defect. 
In these cases some specific degeneration of brain centres 
has been transmitted, with special tendency to use # alco- 
hols for relief, and low resisting power to resist all 
temptations of this kind. Many of these cases escape 
and never use alcohol, but they have marked defects of 
body and mind. While the increased culture and intelli- 
gence of the race drive out the coarser and more repulsive 



40 THE CURSE OF RUM. 

symptoms of inebriety, the mortality is increased and alco- 
hol is more used for its narcotic properties and to quiet 
pain. Inebriety is more concealed to-day and is followed 
by more allied diseases, and is more maniacal, suicidal 
and impulsive. Pneumonia, B right's disease, heart dis- 
ease and apoplexy are some of the names given to the 
fatal cases of inebriety. Not far away in the future, in- 
ebriety will be regarded as small-pox cases are now in 
every community. The inebriate will be forced to go into 
quarantine and be treated for his malady until he recovers . 
The delusion that he can stop at will because he says so 
will pass away. Public sentiment will not permit the vic- 
tim to grow into chronic stages ; the army of moderate 
drinkers will disappear ; the saloons which they have sup- 
ported will close in obedience to a higher law than c any 
prohibition sentiment. '" 

If the above is true, which any sound-minded, candid, 
honest man will admit are facts, then why should we ad- 
vocate high license to bolster up a traffic in so deadly a 
poison, to weaken and destroy the human race ? Peti- 
tions supporting the high license movement have been 
circulated on the down-town exchanges in New York city 
and were signed by hundreds of the brokers. Some of 
the brokers even advocated a rate even higher than one 
thousand dollars for a whiskey license. Nearly all were 
opposed to prohibition. The idea down-town is that folks 
who want to sell rum ought to pay high for the privilege, 
in order to offset, in a measure, the expense the city is 



THE CURSE OF RUM. 41 

put to to tan.e care of the products of the business. That 
is a grand plea for an intelligent set of men to make in 
behalf of high license, to charge a high license price for 
men to sell rum, which creates disturbance and brawls, 
riot and crime, for the purpose of taking care of the 
criminals and the courts they are tried in. Why not li- 
cense crime itself, as well as to license that which leads 
to crime; and we here again assert that "Rum is the 
basis and platform of universal crime." There are many 
reasons why men and women should rise en masse, and 
put down the traffic of that sin-developing, cursed stuff 
that is more destructive than war, famine and pestilence. 
Rouse, my fellow man ; rouse, my sisters ; rouse ye, from 
that stupor ; rouse ye, from the lethargy that hangs 
about you : throw off those dreamy slumbers that so long 
have held you in quiet rest, while our ship of State, with 
all on board, has been drifting into the rapid stream of 
dissipation, until it now stands trembling on the vortex of 
rain. Rouse, I say ! Rouse from the indifference which 
enthralls you and the ignorance which enshrouds you ! 
Determine the sin of complicity shall lie at your door no 
more. To one subject only w r ill I turn my attention. 
The drinking customs of society, that from which the 
more gentle sex has suffered so terribly, and under whose 
burden she has so long groaned, no tongue can tell, no 
pen can portray, a tithe of the misery and anguish it has 
entailed upon her. It has stolen into her happy home and 
robbed it of every comfort, of every necessity, till 



42 THE CURSE OF RUM. 

nothing but bare walls and broken panes remain. One 
after another it has stealthily carried off husband and 
sons and laid them in drunkard's graves. It has scarred 
her form, silvered her hair, furrowed her face, broken her 
heart and stripped her life of peace and happiness. 
What has it done for man? It gives him a boisterous 
mirth, a fictitious strength, a capricious temper, a diseased 
mind, a diseased body and a crooked moral nature. It 
steals the clothes from his back, the cash from his safe, 
his time from his business and drives him to despair, theft 
and murder. For the children, it takes the bread from 
their hungry mouths and the shoes from their naked feet. 
It deprives them of father, mother and home, throwing 
them out helpless, starving, shivering waifs upon the 
charity of a cold-hearted world. For the country it has 
raised up an army of paupers, prisoners, lunatics and 
idiots to be provided for at the expense of the tax- 
payers. 

Incidents occur daily which would make a book of it- 
self on the evils of intemperance. A policeman on the 
New York force went into a liquor saloon. He had often 
been there before — too often, for he had been called before 
the board twenty-six times within the last year for neglect 
of duty. He had come to regard the roundsman, whose 
duty it was to report him when he was absent from his 
beat during the time when he should have been upon it, 
as his natural enemy. The drink made him sullen and 
angry. He went out again, but it was a cold night and 



THE CURSE OF RUM. 43 

soon he turned into a little shanty near by. Then the 
roundsman came and found him sitting there, with his 
coat unbuttoned and his club and belt off, when he should 
have been patroling his beat. He got up and walked 
with the roundsman. As they walked along he asked : 
"Are } r ou going to report me?" "Yes." "You're al- 
ways down on me." The officer turned down the street. 
The disgraced policeman stood and watched him. In an 
instant a pistol shot rang out. The roundsman turned 
and faced his assailant. Another shot. With a last ef- 
fort the weapon was wrenched from the murderer's grasp 
and the roundsman fell upon the street, to die within a 
few hours. 

This is the plain, unvarnished history of what a half 
dozen drinks will do. How many murders, how many 
so-called "accidents," brawls, fights, brutalities of all 
sorts occur that are not prompted by drink ? How many 
beaten wives say of their husbands, "He's kind when 
he's not under the influence of liquor?" How many 
children's lives are ruined to gratify the thirst of their 
parents? A half dozen drinks and their consequences. 
Multiply them by a million and possibly some idea may 
be had of what strong drink does for a nation. Thou- 
sands of happy homes have been made cold and deso- 
late by neglect, caused by the use of rum ; many a fond 
mother's strongest hope been blighted ; many a young 
and loving bride, who has launched out upon the matri- 
monial, sea with highest hopes and anticipations of a life 



44 THE CURSE OF RUM. 

of peace and happiness, has been sadly disappointed, rum 
being the absolute cause. He who would love, cherish 
and protect her has been false to his vows and has fallen 
a victim to the bowl, leaving her to live in wretchedness, 
misery and want, while he who should be her protector, 
is leading a miserable, wretched life among the low, de- 
graded rummies, in the God-forsaken, ill-begotten, hell- 
holes of prostitution and vice of every grade. 

Now, in order to prove our assertion that rum is the 
basis and platform of universal crime, we shall record 
many incidents that have occurred where whiskey has 
taken a conspicuous part in the drama, in different acts 
and parts, on the stage of action of every-day life. But 
a few days previous to the writing of this two old men 
named Joseph Mix and Richard Perkins (relatives) were 
found starved or frozen to death in their miserable lodg- 
ings in New York city. The men were misers and Mix, 
at least, was rich. They subsisted on the smallest 
amount of food and that of the vilest kind, though they 
imbibed whiskey pretty freely. They had lived in their 
miserable abode for a number of years, and for eighteen 
years not a woman's hand had been at work in it, except 
once when the Board of Health sent a committee there to 
clean it up, on complaint of the neighbors. This is but 
one little incident out of a million. 

The American home is battling hard against the grog- 
shop. The walls of America are built of her homes, 
every home is a brick. Two hundred thousand rum bat- 



THE CURSE OF RUM. 45 

teries are trying to batter down our walls. There are 
many happy homes crashed by these batteries every day 
and the inmates are ushered into the streets and become 
common beggars, supported by the cold charity of the 
world, while the head of the family either fills a felon's 
cell or a drunkard's grave. 

When we vote for a license law we vote for that which 
leads directly to crime. As George W. Bain said in a 
speech before the National Temperance Society, at Phila- 
delphia, during the campaign of 1884: "Whether there 
be high tax or low tax, it will be a sin tax." Sin is a 
crime committed against the law, and we violate God's 
holy law when we sell that which kills, and when we grant 
license to men to sell that which kills, we violate that 
law, and when we vote for license or a law to give a li- 
cense to sell the damnable stuff, we violate that law as 
well. 

The flower in the bonnet of the saloon-keeper's wife 
robs some other woman's bonnet of a rose, and the delicious 
roast beef on the saloon-keeper's table condemns his cus- 
tomers to a scanty meal of liver. The liquor dealers are 
arrayed against the womanhood of America. It is a war 
of saloon-keepers against houskeepers. 

A Congressman once said that the liquor traffic paid 
half the national debt in nineteen years. If so, it was 
simply a case of feeding national finances to starve na- 
tional morality. 

The appalling increase of intemperance, the unutterable 



4:6 THE CURSE OF RUM. 

and untold sufferings and woe that it entails upon the 
iunocent and helpless, the bold and defiant attitude of 
those engaged in the liquor traffic— this and much more 
we might speak of — is producing a more intense longing 
in the hearts of the better class of people for deliverance 
from the awful thraldom and blighting, cursing effects of 
rum. And it cannot be disputed that, with this conscious 
yearning, the conviction is growing upon them that the 
only effectual radical remedy is absolute prohibition. We 
hope that the time is not distant when the temperance 
banner shall wave over every American home ; then there 
shall not be a necessity for one third the number of pris- 
ons. 



CHAPTER II. 



When every State places a presidental electoral ticket 
in the field we may truly consider that the morning is 
breaking ; the lone, dark, dismal night of the rum -curse 
seems drawing to an end, and the whole world is already 
glowing with the faint streaks of an advancing temper- 
ance day. 

'Tis coming up the steps of time, 

And this world is growing brighter ; 
We may not see its dawn sublime, 

But high hopes make the heart beat lighter, 
We may be sleeping in the ground 

When it shall wake the woild in wonder ; 
But we have seen it gathering 'round 
And heard its voice of living thunder. 

'Tis coming ! Yes, 'tis coming ! The land is rocking 
to-day with the tread: of progressive men and womeu, 
whose lives and labors are given to an advancement of 
this cause. The end which they seek will surely be real- 
ized. It may be delayed, but cannot be kept from the 
high power. Many of its friends are already there : 



48 THE CURSE OF RUM. 

congressmen, governors, judges, magistrates. The host 
will grow and prohibition rule. 

'•It is a curious thing that intelligent men should differ 
in opinion as to the wiser and truer policy to be adopted 
by society toward the liquor traffic — prohibition or high 
license. First of all. to determine what this policy should 
be. we need to determine the relation of the liquor traffic 
to the general welfare. Is it good or bad? Is it partly 
good and partly bad ? and if so. is it more good than bad, 
or more bad than good? Having settled that, it seems to 
me there can be no difficulty in determining what policy 
the State should adopt in relation to it. We say the 
liquor traffic is all bad ; there is no good about it ; it 
is so bad in its influence upon the common weal that 
nothing can be worse. The evils coming from it to every 
public and social interest are more, and greater, than 
those which arise from all other sources of evil combined. 
No one has denied or doubted this — so far as I know." — 
(Hon. Neal Dow, in --The Morning and Day of Reform," 
1881). 

Mr Gladstone said of it : -More evils come from it to 
the people than from war. pestilence and famine, those 
three great scourges of the human family." 

Chief Justice Davis said: "If all the evils (of what- 
ever kind) were divided into five parts, the liquor traffic 
would be responsible for four of them." 

No one denies that all this is true of the relation of the 
liquor traffic to the general welfare. This being so, what 
should be the policy of the State in relation to it? The 



THE CURSE OF RUM. 49 

law has forbidden lotteries and lottery offices, the manu- 
facture and sale of obscene books and pictures, gambling 
houses, houses of ill fame. Why? Because their in- 
fluence was bad ; they are inconsistent with the general 
welfare. This policy toward these objectionable schemes 
for money is universally accepted as wise and right. The 
liquor traffic inflicts upon the community a thousand-fold 
more evil than all these combined. TVe say, therefore, it 
should not be licensed, established and protected by law. 
It wages deadly war upon every interest of nation, State 
and people. Everybody knows this to be true. Then 
why can any intelligent man object to the policy of pro- 
hibition. 

In England there are more than fourteen hundred par- 
ishes where the liquor traffic is prohibited, and in every 
one of them the result has been wonderfully for good. 
In Scotland and in Ireland there are many localities in 
which the traffic has been forbidden by law, with the same 
result. In Scotland and in all Ireland, except five large 
cities, the grog-shops are suppressed on Sunday with most 
beneficial results, and a bill was passed at a recent session 
of parliament for Wales, almost unanimously, for a Sun- 
day prohibition law. ^In all English speaking counties 
there is a strong movement for the adoption of a policy of 
prohibition to replace that of license. 

"The liquor traffic is war against the church, the library 
and the school. It is one phase of the warfare between hea- 
ven and hell." — (Charles Baxton, Member of Parliament.) 



50 THE CURSE OF RUM. 

"It is the wholesale poisoning of the people ; it drives 
them to hell like sheep." These words were uttered by 
John Wesley. 

Senator Morril], of Maine, said : "The liquor traffic is 
the gigantic crime of crimes." 

Everybody knows that all this is true. If this great 
sin, shame and crime be continued, let it be against the 
law and in spite of it, and not established and protected 
by law — as in those States where it is licensed. 

"When the wicked beareth rule, the people mourn." 
(Frov. 29 : 2). Our mechanics, laborers and tax-payers 
groan under the burden imposed upon them by King Al- 
cohol, and their cry is, "How long, O Lord, how long." 
Well may we all with one voice exclaim : "How long, O 
Lord, shall this bright hour delay ; fly swift around, ye 
wheel of time and bring the welcome day." There are 
many homes in our land where the mothers and children 
would bid thrice welcome the happy day when rum, ruin, 
rags and poveity shall be banished from their homes, and 
the soft, sunny smiles of contentment shall settle in the 
hearts of those whose lives have been made sad by the 
unrelenting rum-seller who deals out that detestable, de- 
structblei stuff, that sends its poisonous arrows and 
claims its victims wherever its use is indulged in. Thous- 
ands of homes have been made desolate through the per- 
sistent use of rum, where it makes demons of men and a 
hell for women and children. The following is one case 



THE CURSE OF RUM. 51 

of many thousands that occur every year. In a most in- 
teresting address delivered by the Rev. Canon Wilberforce, 
recently, in England, he said : "Not long since there was 
in my own parish one of the bravest, purest and brightest 
of the wives of workingmen I have ever seen. All 
through her married life she had been praying for, bear- 
ing with, and forgiving the man who at the altar had 
sworn to love and cherish her. A short time ago he set 
his seal upon years of cruelty by raising his foot and 
kicking her savagely and three hours after she had gone 
'where the wicked cease from troubling and the weary are 
at rest.' The last words she spoke were whispered in my 
own ear : 'Don't be hard upon him when I am gone ; he 
is kind when he doesn't drink." They laid the little form 
of her prematurely-born infant by her side, and four other 
little ones followed to the grave one more victim of 
the arch-fiend rum." 

Who among a christian people will tolerate a traffic that 
carries death and destruction wherever it goes ? It spares 
none, neither the young nor old ; the bite is sure death, 
and whoever swallows the deadly poison must inevitably 
sink down beneath its vital touch. 

Life is teeming with evil snares, 

The gates of sin are open wide ; 
The rosy fingers of pleasure wave 

And beckon the young inside. 
Man of the world with open purse, 

Seeking your own delight, 
Pause, ere reason is wholly gone — 

Where is your boy to-night ? 



52 THE CURSE OP BUM. 

Sirens are singing on every hand, 

Luring the ear of youth ; 
Gilded falsehood, with silver notes, 

Drowneth the voice of truth ; 
Dainty lady in costly robes, 

Your parlors gleam with light ; 
Fate and beauty your senses steep — 

Where is your boy to-night ? 

Tempting whispers of royal spoil 

Flatter the youthful soul, 
Eagerly entering into life, 

Restive of all control. 
Needs are many, and duties stern 

Crowd on the weary sight ; 
Father buried in business cares, 

Where is your boy to-night ? 

Pitfalls lurk in the flowery way, 

Vice has a golden gate ; 
Who shall guide the unwary feet 

Into the highway straight ? 
Patient workers with willing hands, 

Keeping the home hearth bright ; 
Tired mother with tender eyes, 

Where is your boy to-night ? 

Turn his feet from sinful paths 

. Ere they have entered in, 
Keep him unspotted while yet you may, 

Earth is so stained with sin. 
Ere he has learned to follow wrong, 

Teach him to love the right, 
Watch, ere watching is wholly vain — 

Where is your boy to-night ? 



THE CURSE OF RUM. 53 

How few there are who take the above into considera- 
tion ! Should there be more care taken in looking after 
the interest and welfare of our boys, there would not be 
so many of them in the billiard halls, where a majority of 
young men and boys go through the rudiments of a bum- 
mer's education. There are a thousand other places and 
practices that lead the youth of our land astray, aside from 
the billiard room. There is many a street corner and alley 
in our cities and towns where boys congregate, and some 
one older and more steeped in crime will propose pitching 
pennies for a pastime or innocent sport, as they term it. 
This is many times the starting point and leads from one 
step to another, until the once innocent idol of his fond 
mother has been led into the deepest vices that fill our 
land. At last the mother looks back only in memory 
upon her golden-haired idol : to-day she looks upon him 
in a felon's cell ; a man in full strength steeped in crime, 
stripped of every virtue, his heart hardened, conscience 
calloused and only fitted for the committing of dark deeds. 

At the present time of writing I am sitting at my writing- 
table in a room at a prominent hotel in Syracuse. Cast- 
ing a glance from my window in the third story my eyes 
rested upon a group of boys in the back-yard seated on 
beer-kegs. My spy-glass was lying near at hand. I 
brought it to bear upon the group and discovered they 
were boot-blacks, playing poker for the money they had 
earned polishing boots for the aristocratic. Watching 
them closely, I discovered they were playing what the 



THE CURSE OF RUM. 

gamblers call freeze-out. As fast as one got broke he 
necessarily falls out of the game. 

Hundreds, yes, thousands ! and I might add tens of 
thousands of cases of intemperance and tens of thous- 
ands of crimes, of the deepest dye would be avoided if 
mothers would look more closely after their boys before 
they become wandering, reckless, uncontrollable fel- 
lows, while in the tender age of youth. Mothers should 
see that the school hours of each day are heeded by her 
boys, and not let the time pass by unconcerned and un- 
mindful of their duty toward their children. Too many 
let them spend their school hours or evenings away from 
their homes ; and parents should make their homes as 
pleasant for their children as they possibly can, that it 
be a pleasant pastime and a greater pleasure to remain 
>nings than to mingle with strangers in 
strange places. Mothers should be very careful to edu- 
cate and train their children (especially their boys) to 
love their home and its surroundings in preference to all 
places of amusement and recreation. The ruling and 
teaching of mothers should, in all cases, be in ways of 
pleasantry?, yet with a sternness that is unmistakable. 
Speak in words of gentleness, but with firmness ; teach 
them by kind words and gentle manners, first, to love 
you and obey you : make their home a place of joys and 
that home to them will be a Heaven ; teach them in their 
early childhood days the words of John Howard Payne, 
'•Home, sweet home : no place like home" '; teach 



THE CURSE OF ROI. 00 

them also, that, outside of home, there are a thousand 
snares arising on every hand to draw the childish heart 
into difficulty ; teach them in kindness ; tell them of the 
little clouds that first appear in the child's horizon ; 
tell them that these little clouds gather thicker and faster 
as life wears on, and eventually the storm-cloud bursts in 
wildest fury on the heads of those that are out in the 
storm, and they are engulfed in the flood of ruin. The 
first step of the child to ruin, nine times out of ten, is by 
being too indulgent in the first start of life, not only by 
mothers, but by fathers as well. Such indulgence leads 
the child from one step to another until, often times, the 
child becomes rebellious, and many times conquers the 
parents and becomes master of the house ; once master 
of the household, like Alexander, he goes out into the 
world seeking for other worlds to conquer. Among 
other conquests he has sought, the allurements of the 
sparkling goblet have caught his attention ; he whispers 
to himself, saying, ' 'Thousands have you ruined, but I 
am an oak ; I can withstand the most severe storms you 
can bring upon my life ; I can drink or I can let you 
alone." The circles of the sporting world have not es- 
caped his attention ; the race courses and the gambling 
houses he has frequented until what little money he could 
raise has gone, his appetite for drink has increased, the 
victory that seemed almost within his grasp has vanished ; 
he went forth a conquerer, but was conquered by what he 
deemed his weakest enemy ; the poison of rum had satur- 



56 THE CURSE OF RUM. 

ated his physical frame, his brain had become paralyzed, 
his limbs enfeebled, his vital force racked and his body a 
complete wreck, tattering upon the brink of a drunkard's 
grave. Mothers, before it is too late, look to the matter, 
ask yourselves, where is my darling boy to-night? 
Parents, remember King Alcohol sits day and night upon 
his throne and rules in terror. His throne is the whisky 
barrel ; his crown the iron lock of the prison door. The 
right and left bowers are the insane asylum and poor- 
house, and they are sure to catch every trick that the 
joker (state prison) does not get. I repeat, the aristo- 
cratic praise him, the politician pays homage to him, and 
when the wicked rule the people mourn. 

We frequently hear the expression among our people 
in regard to the case of George Axtell, convicted of 
murder for killing three men while crazed with drink, "I 
think the men who sold him the grog are just as guilty as 
he is !" A pretty strong expression, but when boiled 
down to the very essence of the thing, it is a good deal 
too near the truth to be comforting to the grog-seller. — 
Bincjliamton Axe. 

What about the community which licenses the grog- 
seller? Dr. Geo. F. Pentacost said, "I could not preach 
God's gospel on Sunday and vote with a party on Mon- 
day that stakes its existence upon the rjatronage of the 
saloon, and I won't." 

Vote and pray, work away, 

Victory is coming ; 

Though it should not come to-day, 

Victory is coming. 



CHAPTER in. 



I believe that many people can be reformed by appeal- 
ing to their good judgment. This is one thing needed in 
this and other religious and moral reforms. The majority 
of people who are between the ages of fourteen and 
eighteen have settled upon what business they shall fol- 
low for a livelihood, and the person who does not settle 
upon something to do will go through life without ever 
amounting to very much. The first thing a person should 
do is to determine what business they should embark in ; 
the next thing they should strive with earnestness to 
master their undertaking. I have a great deal of faith in 
grit and sobriety. Young people who possess these 
qualities seldom fail to succeed. If a boy would only 
look at a glass of liquor before he drinks it and ask him- 
self if it is going to benefit him to drink it, I am quite 
sure he would would not drink it. 

In the winter of 1885-6, I stopped for several weeks at 
a hotel in Binghamton, N. Y. The proprietor of the 
house was a good-natured, jolly sort of a hale-fellow- 



58 THE CURSE OF RUM. 

well-met, for whom the boys of the town had a great lik- 
ing. They patronized the house liberally on account of 
his pleasing manner, and as the case stood they could 
get their schnapps any day of the week, regardless of the 
law, and yet it must be he knew it was wrong to traffie in 
the stuff, for many a time I have heard him say to 

customers, "Boys, drink it, but, by , it will kill you 

in the end ; it will fetch you certain." After, in private 
conversation, he has told me that it was a detestable 
business and he would not follow it, but there was money 
in the business. He even went so far as to say he would 
not drink the vile stuff himself, for it was nothing but a 
compound of poisons. If men want to invest in any 
business they always ask, "What security can I get for 
my money, and will it pay ?" I do not think men settle 
this question in their minds when tney are about to take 
a drink, or play pool, or play cards for drinks. And let 
me tell you, young men, the great mass of business men, 
even if they do drink themselves, do not want employees 
who drink. I beseech all young men to judge themselves 
by their own works, and ask their consciences if they are 
satisfied. Let us leave it with the boys themselves, for 
men will not respect you if you do not respect yourselves. 
You are the ones to decide the great question. 

Xot long since there was a case in Utica, X. Y., of a 
prominent lawyer who had become so diseased by drink 
that from a position of wealth and influence in a few 
short years he found a home in the county poor-house. 



THE CURSE OF RUM. 59 

Hundreds, yes, thousands of similar cases might be cited. 
But a little over a year ago I formed the acquaintance of 
a physician and surgeon, one of the most skillful of the 
age, one who had previously filled, for a number of years, 
one of the most important positions in a London (Eng.) 
hospital, and later had filled an equally high position in a 
similar institution in New York. At the time of our 
introduction he resided in Susquehanna, Pa., where he 
had a limited practice. We became intimate friends, 
although our acquainfance was a short one. I was in- 
vited to his office, where he exhibited all manner of 
surgical instruments, which seemed without limit. I am 
sorry to add, whiskey had left its deepest traces upon its 
victim, and the deepest regret was often expressed as he 
spoke of his past life, the high positions he had occupied, 
the deep remorse he felt, the sharp pangs of disease that 
were knawing his vitals, and how sad his fate, attribut- 
ing all his wretchedness to an excessive indulgence in 
strong drink. He left the hotel at nine o'clock on Satur- 
day evening for his home across the street, shaking hands 
and bidding me good bye, urging me to come and see 
him on my return, as I was to leave the town on Monday 
following, to be absent about two weeks. On his way 
home he was prostrated by a stroke of apoplexy, where 
he was found late in the evening and conveyed to his 
house, from which sickness he never recovered. In four 
days' time he succumed to the grim master and was buried 
in the Potter's field, on the banks of the Susquehanna, 



60 THE CURSE OF RUM. 

whose murmuring waters sing a requiurn while the doctor 
sleeps his last sleep in unbroken rest. How sad to 
mourn for those we love. Thousands of cases may be 
cited where the most skillful and learned men in this as 
well as of other nations have been ruined and brought to 
pauperism, crime, state prison and the gallows by the 
use and influence of intoxicating drink. Four-fifths of all 
the inmates of American jails, penitentiaries and reforma- 
tories are brought there, directly or indirectly, by strong 
drink. There are over five hundred thousand of these 
criminals in the United States to-day ; every institution 
is full of them, and the number is rapidly increasing. 
Then there are eight hundred thousand insane persons, 
idiots, helpless inebriates, convicts and paupers in the 
poor-houses, prisons and charitable institutions of the 
country, costing the taxpapers eight hundred millions a 
year. But the half has not been told. Xo pen but the 
recording angel's is able to picture one half of the sorrow 
that is inflicted upon loving hearts by the diabolical habit 
of drinking stimulants. Xo class is so high in the social 
scale that it is not dragged down by its use. and no class 
is so poor and degraded that it is not made more in- 
human and miserable by it. A drinking parent bestows 
a curse upon his offspring, even to many generations. 
Science shows how vice of any kind vitiates the blood, 
and although it may miss one generation, it is certain to 
crop out further down the stream. A dead drunkard 
often reaches out his hand from the grave, and, with his 



THE CURSE OF RUM. 61 

skeleton finger, palsies the brain of his descendants, and 
sends them jabbering idiots to the insane asylum to be 
supported by charity. 

President Payne, writing in the Christian Statesman, 
says : "I speak as a Christian minister and educator, 
whose work is to train youth for worthy citizenship, giv- 
ing utterance to my profound convictions upon the burn- 
ing question, fc What shall be done with the saloon?' In- 
to our modern civilization has come a new factor, start- 
lingly significant in the problem of the future. Unknown 
to the ancients in any such form as it now presents, it 
strikingly illustrates the fact that as civilization ad- 
vances, society developes new phases and new perils. 
Let us consider the place of the saloon in modern soeiety. 
To see the prominence given to it, and the tender treat- 
ment it receives from the highest officials and dignitaries 
of every class, one might suppose that the hope of the 
country was entrusted to the custody of the liquor dealer. 
Looking at its character and deadly work, one might 
think it would be driven to dark and secret dens, and 
only influence a few deluded victims. Alas ! that we 
should be compelled to admit that the saloon is the most 
potent agency in society, more feared, more honored, 
more influential than any other. It has large numbers. 
"There are, in the Lnited States, two hundred and six 
thousand liquor dealers and manufacturers known to the 
government. The number is doubtless much larger. 
There is about one saloon tc every sixty voters in the 



62 THE CURSE OF RUM, 

United States. The saloon power is organized. It 
masses all its forces and hurls them against all opposers ; 
it sacrifices every other interest in the defense and prose- 
cution of its atrocious business. These combined liquor 
dealers control the legislation of the country by bribes 
and threats, and make no concealment of the fact. At 
the national capitol, and around the lobbies of every 
state capitol, their agents are kept, and legislators dis- 
cern their power and bow before the wintry blast. Even 
in our capitol at Washington scenes occur that tell us 
that 

" Deeds of men will oft remind us 
That the world is full of sin ; 
But with misery ever crying, 
Shows us what it might have been." 

Indeed, it is a solemn thought, when we consider the 
burden of taxes, the amount of crime, the destitution and 
suffering which is brought upon our people through the 
use and influence of rum. Our country and our people 
are fast floating down the stream to utter ruin, and yet 
so many look upon the matter with carelessness and in- 
difference, exclaiming, I see the ruin to which we are 
rapidly approaching, but the time has not come yet to 
agitate the question of prohibition. Perhaps they may 
think the pot must boil over to put the fire out, so they 
keep adding fuel to the fire to keep the pot boiling. My 
dear reader, would it not be better to quench the fire, 
that the boiling caldron might become calm and lose its 



THE CURSE OF RUM. 63 

scalding qualities ? Who is there among you who will 
not hasten to apply every known remedy, at your earliest 
opportunity, when sickness and death invade your 
homes ? Let the small-pox invade your city, or hamlet ; 
how suddenly, and with what earnestness and rapidity 
you fly to the doctor for vaccination as a preventive 
of the loathsome disease ; or, when some malignant fever 
appears in your midst, do } T ou for one moment harbor a 
thought that the time has not come to fight the deadly 
plague ? Do you think it good judgment to wait until a 
contagious disease has firmly settled in your vicinity, 
formed its line of battle and taken up its line of march, 
slaying its victims upon your right, and upon your left ? 
Would you be ready now to grapple with so stern a foe, 
or would you at this time become so weakened by dis- 
ease that your strength and courage are both gone, and 
you succumb to the ravages of death, with the excla- 
mation upon your dying lips, "Too late, too late ; all is 
lost ! lost forever. When I could, I would not ; but 
when I would, I could not." My dear reader, the rum 
pot has been boiling for a long time ; 'tis now boiling 
over. Its boiling over does not put the fire out, but its 
hundreds of thousands of victims are scalded, and feel 
the pangs of its unrelenting sting from which there is no 
retreat. Now is the time ; Now. The past can never be 
recalled ; we are not sure what the future may bring 
forth ; the harvest fields are ripening, and the Psalmist 
said: "Whosoever sleepeth in harvest shall beg his 



64 THE CURSE OF RUM. 

bread." There is a warfare for every soldier; upon 
which side will you fight— for the rum-seller, or for the 
peace and prosperity of our country, nation and home? In 
favor of the saloon, or the school house ? For right or 
wrong? For despotism or liberty? For slavery or 
freedom? For rum, riot and ruin, or for a peaceful and 
quiet home among American citizens ? 

P. T. Barnum, the great showman, said about the use 
of liquor: "I should have been in my grave twenty or 
thirty years ago if I had not quit drinking intoxicating 
liquors, as I did in 1847. I had contracted the habit, 
had built a blind, unnatural appetite for strong drink, 
and really liked the taste of every kind of liquor, though 
I suspect I liked the effects still better ; began to grow 
careless and 'slothful in business,' and put off until next 
w r eek what I ought to have done to-day. Fortunately 
I discovered that the habit was destroying my health and 
my worldly prospects, and, by a most determined will- 
power, I conquered the powerful appetite which I had 
acquired for intoxicating drink, and broke it forever. I 
knew that the habit was second nature and that the un- 
natural appetite for strong drinks was stronger than 
nature itself, for every glass of liquor drank in- 
creased the desire for another glass, and so on, ad libitum, 
and, therefore, to have conquered such a fearful habit 
was the saving of my life and all that was worth living 
for." 

There is not one redeeming quality in the liquor drink- 



THE CURSE OF RUM. 65 

ing habit. It does no possible good and inflicts all man- 
ner of evil upon its victim, his family and friends. It is 
the most degrading, poverty-breeding and utterly des- 
tructive infatuation that ever paralyzed the hopes, com- 
forts and characters of the American people. 

At the time of the writing of a portion of this work, I 
was spending a few months at New Milford, Pa., a pleas- 
ant little borough among the hills of Susquehanna county, 
where I had a portion of my printing done, preparatory 
to securing a copyright for the same, and it being the 
former home of my wife I became doubly interested in 
the welfare of the citizens of Pennsylvania. A little 
circular fell into my hands, by accident, which I shall 
take pains to copy, that the readers of this work 
may inform themselves how the standing on the expense 
of liquor drinking in the Keystone State compares with 
the income of its mineral wealth: "Pennsylvania re- 
ceives an annual income of seventy-six millions of dollars 
($76,000,000) from its mineral wealth, but it spends it 
all and two millions (82,000,000) more for its annual 
liquor bill." The amount spent in this State alone in one 
year, were it counted out in silver dollars, were the dol- 
lars placed side by side with the edges touching each other, 
would build a double fence or line around the State, 
the distance being nine hundred and twenty miles ; thus 
a double silver cordon or track would extend around the 
Keystone State. All this the waste of one year only. 
Tens of thousands of men may labor hard day after day 



66 THE CURSE OF RUM. 

all through the year for the State's treasure of iron and 
coal and still the grand total, representative of the value 
of all this product and of all the toil required to procure 
it, will not suffice to balance the liquor bill of a single year. 

WHAT ONE YEAR'S LIQUOR- WASTE WOULD DO. 

Assuming that sixty million dollars of the seventy- 
eight million dollars spent in Pennsylvania in one year for 
intoxicants is money thrown away, let us see what use it 
might be put to, where it would be more beneficial — simply 
the money- waste of twelve months. We will omit appro- 
priations for new penitentiaries and prisons, as under the 
improved order of things we should not need all that we 
already have. Let us establish 

200 Public libraries at $50,000 - - - - $10,000,000 
100 Industrial schools at $50,000 - - - $5,000,000 
10 Reformatory institutions at $100,000 - $1,000,000 
25 Public parks of 1000 acres, at $400 - $10,000,000 
10 Training institutions for nurses at $50,000 $500,000 
10 Homes for incurables at $75,000 - - $750,000 

10 Lying-in hospitals at $50,000 - - - $500,000 

250 Public school houses (city) at $40,000 $10,000,000 
2,000 Public school houses (country) at $1,500 $3,000,000 
20 Public hospitals at $500,000 - - - - $10,000,000 
100 Public bath and gymnasium halls, $25,000 $2,500,000 
50 Houses of worship (city) at $40,000 - $2,000,000 
250 Houses of worship (country) at $8,000 $2,000,000 
5 Hospitals for consumptives at $100,000 $500,000 

5 Orphan asylums at $100,000 - - - - $500,000 

500 Nurseries for children of the poor, $3,000 $1,500,000 
125 Soup kitchens at $1,000 - - - - $125,000 

125 Poor women's employment rooms, $1,000 $125,000 

$60,000^000 



THE CURSE OF RUM. 67 

Pennsylvania might have all the above-mentioned con- 
veniences and then there would be (taking the cost of all 
these institutions from the cost of drink) sixteen mil- 
lions left in her treasury. 



CHAPTER rr. 



"Pss the flung by, 'tis a 1 
The saloon on the cm 

I.iLi: :: friz: eirLz ii i izr-r . :" :ze 7 

^"r hear many rc-^ris martr f r jiriliii^ the I 
question : "'Oh ! we know all about it — it is an old, old 
story, over and aver/* Yes, 'tis an old tale ; nevertheless 

:: 1? ;, -■:'.- ::: :^'_: — ::"_ :;•; r_:;"_ -;e:.._r lifss fiZ.I irine 
to remain unnoticed ; a tale so filled with honor as to al- 
i_ : s: :z:-:li :ir ': '. :•:•:: : : *Jit — :•-: '. r:::;7 ?:vr_-L^f . — '■_-/_ :z.'.j 
one-half the telling. Shall we remain silent and float 
down the stream to onr ntter ruin, or shall we hoist the 
" :ri-: ::' ::--' zi ;,i ." i^l: — :l '.'.- ":-£*:: mrl :: si-:C 
f: 2.: :::z: :lr ":^r ::' :lr :zy::\ ; :' ::: 7:::-: ^^s : 
and as well over the capital of every state in the Union. 

\ 1: 11:::.: 15 :.: ;~::~r :ir : ~:~ ris^i ; :' :ie "::t-t::t? 
; l ". 7:-:;7t:;t-. :;:^t". '" :'i- rzzL-s--'..;? :,.: ; :ir r.;^- 

* .-._.>t7. .i.l " .'_'.;. :t ■.:■; : 1 ::_t -:: r_ •::.;.:::: ~ — '.i-n : -r :i--e 
1 have fallen, the temperance banner, by which, 



THE CURSE OF RUM. 69 

like "the brazen serpent," all who look upon it may be 
healed from their malady. 

A LIFE SCENE. 

Mother and son — one whom she dearly loved, her 
favorite and youngest born, face to face. Oh ! the 
agony of the heart makes its imprint on the face as she 
stands before him, a full grown man, and pleads : "Hor- 
ace, you will kill me, I cannot endure this !" His 
face is that of a demou, fury vividly portrayed thereon. 
His eyes bleared and bloodshot ; the sweet face she has 
often kissed in his innocent childhood, where is it, and 
what has caused this hideous change ? As the last words 
passed her lips, he raised his hand, and with one cruel 
blow fells her to the floor. "Die then," he hissed, and 
turned away. Can it be a son could do so foul a deed ? 
Perhaps you tell me, no ; but this is truth, and the solving 
of the problem will be found in one word, "Intemper- 
ance." 

There are many, very many, cases of this kind in our 
land where mothers rear their sons in tenderness and love, 
with all the affection and kindness of a mother's fond 
heart, but just as they are about to launch out on the 
world's rough current, to mingle with the many that are 
hurrying to and fro in the busy cares and pursuits of life, 
they come in contact with the rougher elements of society, 
who make the saloon their haunts, and seek an opportun- 
ity to allure the feet of the unwary into the paths of vice, 



70 



THE CURSE OF RUM. 



and entice the youthful and tender hearts of "mothers' 
sons" into the fatal snare that awaits them. 

We copy below the words of a man doomed to die by 
the hands of the executioner ; but overcome with grief 
from the rash act committed while a maniac under the in- 
fluence of liquor, he dies in his cell in the Broome county 
jail, Binghamton, N. Y., thus cheating the gallows out 
of its official duty. 

A VOICE FROM THE CELL. 

George AxtelPs warning to young men who drink : 
"Whiskey did it all." Beginning with hard cider, in 
eighteen months to whiskey and finally to murder. The 
only safety is to let all strong drinks alone. An innocent 
man in the morning, he wakes at night from a crazy 
drunk to find himself in a prison cell. 

Binghamton, July 16, 1886. 
Editor of the Axe : " I feel it my duty to write a few 
words of warning and advice to young men in regard to 
what I know about the evil of intemperance. Oh, young 
men, lend an ear to my cry, as I sit in my cell to-day 
writing these words in your behalf and asking God to di- 
rect me what to say that I may be the means of rescuing 
some poor, unfortunate one from a prison, the gallows or 
a drunkard's grave. I say, young men, stop and think, 
and look over the paths that I have trod. Trace them 
along and see where they have led me. They have led me 



THE CURSE OF RUM. 71 

from a pleasant home, from a kind father, and from the 
care of a loving mother ; from my dear sisters and 
brothers, and many friends whom I loved, to the dark and 
gloomy cell of a prison, there to spend the remainder of 
my days. Only think, this is all for whiskey ! Con- 
demned by the laws of the land for a crime committed 
when my brain was crazed by whiskey. 

I will give you enough of my history to show you what 
fate had in store for me for throwing aside all my early 
teaching. It has trouble in store for all who do the same. 
I was born in Barberville, Delaware county, N.Y., and 
am twenty-three years of age. My mother always taught 
me to attend Sunday school and church, and, above all, 
never to take an intoxicating drink. So I grew to be a 
young man of seventeen years before I tasted intoxicat- 
ing drink of any kind. But at this age I got into the 
habit of taking a glass of cider once in a while. This 
habit grew on me so that in six months I had gone from 
cider to beer, and as soon as I commenced to drink beer 
I had to go to the saloons to buy it and this brought me 
into bad company. At first it seemed ridiculous to me to 
see the actions of some of the men there who would get 
drunk and I was ashamed to be seen in such places by any 
who knew me. But after a little this feeling wore off and 
I did not care so much who saw me in such places. As 
time wore on I became a frequenter of beer saloons and 
in a year and a half from the time I first took my drink of 
cider, I commenced drinking whiskey more or less. So 



72 THE CURSE OF RUM, 

this is where I stood on that fatal morning, May 30, 1885. 
What happened that day is still fresh in the minds of the 
people and it is too painful for me to repeat. I started 
from my home that morning an innocent man, with a light 
heart and an untroubled conscience, never doubting that 
I should go back to my home that night as innocent as 
when I left it in the morning. I lost my home, my honor 
and my innocence, and ' whiskey did it all.' How many 
young men are there to day just starting on the same path 
that I have traveled. How many stalling in the way I 
first started, that is, on hard cider and beer. And I will 
say to the young men just beginning to take their first 
drinks of cider and beer that if they have the slightest re- 
gard for honor or one spark of love for their relatives or 
friends, to stop right where they are and never take 
another drink under any circumstances. If you do not 
stop it will surely bring you to misery and disgrace, if 
not to the prison cell or to the gallows. I think I am safe 
in saying that there is not a man on the face of the earth 
who drinks whiskey who did not think when he first be- 
gun to take intoxicating drink that he could stop any 
time he might wish. And that is just what you are say- 
ing now. Perhaps you think as you say, but so I thought 
when I first began ; yet I learned to my sorrow that it 
was a great deal easier to form the habit than to break 
myself of it, and so you will find. Young man, whiskey 
causes more misery than all the rest of the evils in the 
world, and why will you use the accursed stuff? When 



THE CURSE OF RUM. 73 

your mother comes to you and says, u Oh, my boy, why 
won't you stop drinking and keep out of bad company ? 
Oh, I cannot bear the thought of a boy of mine becom- 
ing a drunkard ! " why don't you stop and consider that 
your mother is the best friend you have in this world, 
and that she is the most interested in your welfare of any 
person on earth and could not wrongly advise you. Why 
don't more of you listen to her and follow her advice. 
How much happier you would be, and how much sorrow 
and shame you would save yourself and your parents if 
you would only listen to your mother. Young man, the 
time to reform is when you have an opportunity. Do not 
keep putting it off until some other time, as I did, and 
some day wake up out of a crazy drunk and find yourself 
in a prison cell. Oh, why won't you profit by my ex- 
perience and let whiskey alone, when by so doing you can 
win the respect and confidence of all who know you ? I 
will bid you good-bye, hoping: you will give heed to what 
I have said. " — (From Binghamion Axe.) 

Young man, beware, ere it is too late. Had not George 
Axtell been careless and indifferent to the teachings of a 
kind mother ; had he listened in his manhood to his 
mother's precepts and warnings, her instructions and ad- 
vice while in his infancy, youthfulness and manhood, his 
career would not have ended in a prison cell in the morn- 
ing of his life. 

The author visited the parents and relatives of the 
prisoner while he (the prisoner) was languishing in jail 



74 THE CURSE OF RUM. 

under sentence of death, for the triple murder, of which 
crime he was convicted. My pen cannot describe — only 
imagination carries me back to the scene. 

Imagine, dear reader, the pangs, the sufferings that 
filled that mother's heart when her thoughts carried her 
back in imagination to the sunny days of her beloved 
son's childhood — when she gazed with a fond mother's 
love upon the childish smiles, sunny curls and gleeful 
sports of her darling boy, who has grown to manhood, 
and now fills a murderer's cell, awaiting the day fixed by 
the court for his execution upon the gallows. Such was 
the case at the time we interviewed the family, although 
the father and a maiden aunt seemed to make a greater 
display of sorrow mingled with excitement, while the 
mother's heart was filled to to its utmost extent with 
grief of an unbearable degree. Like the waters of the 
disturbed Niagara, though the face of the waters may 
appear comparatively smooth, beneath the surface the 
waters are deep and turbulent. So it was with that 
mother. The heart fails most when the lips move not. 
When the outside appearances show signs of resignation, 
the heart, oftentimes, is suffering with the most 
excruciating pangs of sorrow. The family, as well as 
the neighbors, spoke highly of the genial and peaceful , 
disposition of the unfortunate man whose doom was 
sealed. When sober his ways were pleasant, his manners 
genteel, and he was a good fellow generally, "But when 
whiskey is in, wit is out," is an old adage. George, on 




o.j a 13 s / 

THE HOME IN POVERTY. 



THE HOTEL IX PROSPERITY- 



I thought, when I commenced to drink with friends. I could stop at any time, 
but I meet so many of my friends and business men, that I cannot well slight 
them; I aru going to swear oft on Xew Year's day. My business is neglect- 
ed, my buildings are going to ruin, my farm is under a heavy mortgage, my 
health is failing and I am nearly discouraged. Rum led me to it .' 

My dear readers, some of you may be in the above condition! We hope not. 
But whether you are or not, remember the golden opportunity of the present, 
once flown, is gone forever! The ratchet of time firmly holds the wheel from 
turning back and an opportunity once lost, is lost forever! And we can only 
look upon the past, regretting a misspent life. Now is the time to strike for 
freedom from the chains of the Rum Curse that makes slaves and drunkards of 



THE CURSE OF RUM. 75 

the fatal day of the tragedy, had become crazed with 
drink. Within a few hours after taking the first drink, 
he had shot down three of his comrades and had become 
a triple murderer. 

We frequently hear the expression among the people 
in regard to the case of George Axtell, convicted of 
murder for killing three men while crazed with drink, 
' 'I think the men who sold him the grog are just as guilty 
as he is !" A pretty strong expression, but when boiled 
down to the very essence of the thing, it is a good deal 
too near the truth to be comforting to the grog seller. 
What about the excise commissioner who grants the 
licenses, and how about the community that elects the 
commissioner who stands pledged to grant licenses if 
elected ? And then consider what they are licensed to sell 
to their fellow men. It has been ascertained by careful 
computation that a bushel of corn, which costs originally 
thirty cents, is converted into seventeen quarts of intoxi- 
cating drink, may be ultimately so manipulated by the 
admixture of water and more harmful substances by 
wholesalers and retailers as to represent eight and one-half 
gallons of "liquid fire." Allowing sixty drinks to the 
gallon, the official bar average, the bushel of corn will 
furnish two hundred and seventy drinks, which, at an 
average of ten cents, will take twenty-seven dollars from 
the pockets of the consumers. Now we will subtract the 
thirty cents which the farmer receives for his corn, and 
the balance is twenty-six dollars and seventy cents. 



THE xntss OF EOI. 

This will show at a glance the average profits made by 
those who do not till the soil to grow the corn, but who 
multiply indefinitely by scientific means the mischiev: : 
powers of the grain, and who, from this multiplication, 
reap easy, large and reliable profits. The original price 
of the corn is contained ninety times in the ultimate re- 
gipts from it This computation gives some conception 
of the great alcoholic drink -waste. -The consumers pay 
heavy tribute, indeed, to the whiskey manipulator-. 

Farmers, feed your corn to the hogs, then the boys will 
not have the swill to drink, neither will the old man or 
the middle aged man. The husbands and fathers will go 
home from their labor at night with - on their fa 

will be met by wives and children at the door and greeted 
with smiles in return ; the home and fireside shall be full 
of love, peace, plenty, contentment and hapv here 

otherwise the conglomerated mass of poisonous stuff will 
breed discord, contempt, quarrels, disquietude, scorn, 
disturbance, filth, misery, poverty, starvation, riot and 
murder. Oh, man ! how long will you persist in drinking 
the vile stuff that stupefies your brain, enfeebles your 
frame, destroys your intellect, paralyzes your vitals and 
unfits you for the society of your family, your neighbors , 
or as well for the transaction of your business, and brings 
ruin and disaster to your families, your fortunes and 
yourselves. Consider before it is wholly too late ; ask 
yourselves where is the benefit to be derived from the use 
of a drink that destroys the peace of your own mind, the 



THE CURSE OF RUM. 77 

happiness of your family and friends and sends thousands 
to prisons, to the gallows and to drunkard's graves. It 
multiplies paupers and fills our asylums with lunatics, and 
all ends in sorrow. 

" Why is my home so shabby and old, 

At every crevice letting in cold, 

And the kitchen wall all covered with mould ?" 

If you'll allow me to be so bold — Go ask your jug ! 

" Why are my eyes so swollen and red ? 

Whence this dreadful pain in my head ? 

W T here in the world is our nice feather bed ? 

And the wood that was piled up in the shed T'—Go ask your jug! 

" Why is my wife broken-hearted and sad ? 

Why are my children never now glad ? 

Why did my business run down so bad ? 

Why at my thoughts am I well nigh mad ?" — Go ask your jug ! 

" Oh, why do I pass the old church door, 

Weary of heart and sadly foot-sore, 

Every moment sinking down lower, 

A pitiable outcast evermore?" — Go ask your jug! 

Thousands upon thousands to-day need not ask their 
jug where their fortunes have been scattered ; the facts 
in their cases stand recorded upon their broken fortunes, 
broken constitutions r blighted hopes, scattered families, 
ruined morals, diseased bodies, wrecked lives, total ruin 
and depravity hovering about them ; the dark-winged 
demon of despair settled upon them, the spell only to be 
broken when released by the angel of death from the cares 
and torture of their misguided lives, to be plunged into 
the mysterious depths of the unknown future. 



78 THE CURSE OF RUM 

"You're starting to-day on life's journey, 

Along on the highways of life ; 
You'll meet with a thousand temptations — 

Each city with evil is rife ; 
This world is a stage of excitement ; 

There is danger wherever you go ; 
But if you are tempted in weakness, 

Have courage, my boy to say No. 

" The bright ruby wine may be offered ; 

No matter how tempting it be, 
From poison that stings like an adder, 

My boy, have the courage to flee. 
The gambling hells are all before you. 

Their lights, how they dance to and fro. 
If you should be tempted to enter, 

Think twice, even thrice, ere you go. 

" In courage alone lies your safety, 

AYhen you the long journey begin; 
Be firm, with a strong resolution 

Press on, and the prize you will win. 
Temptations will go on increasing, 

As streams from a rivulet flow, 
But. if you are true to your manhood, 

Have courage, my boy, to say No ! 

If a horse has sore spots on him, when you use the 
curry-comb he kicks. A professed Christian, who favors 
license, will kick if you approach him on the temperance 
question. Liars will kick at the truth. While writing 
an article for a newspaper, (to which I occasionally con- 
tribute,) this morning, a friend interrupted me by handing 
me the New Milford (Pa.) Advertiser, calling my at- 
tention to the following : 



Me curse of rum. ?9 

"William Dean is a son of Mr. Perce Dean, of this 
township. He lives near his father's place, a short dis-« 
tance above the summit bridge. He is addicted to strong 
drink and when under its influence exhibits an uncon- 
trollable, vicious temper. Two weeks ago to-day he im- 
bibed too freely and become intoxicated. He went home 
and, it is alleged, abused and beat his wife in a terrible 
manner. She was in a precarious condition and after 
the ill treatment at the hands of her husband she was 
taken to the home of her father, Mr. E. R. Davis, where 
she has been living since. On Tuesday, on a warrant 
sworn out for his arrest, he was called before Justice 
Schelp and held to bail for appearance at court. 
Wednesday evening, about nine o'clock, he visited Mr. 
Davis's home and demanded an audience with his wife, 
which was refused. He threatened to take his life if his 
request was not complied with. Mr. Davis, however, did 
not see fit to allow him admission to the house. Follow- 
ing up his threat, Dean deliberately pulled out his re- 
volver and placing it over his left breast pulled the trig- 
ger. The bullet struck a bone, diverting it from its 
course, and it lodged in the left side. It is said that he 
fired one shot before the one which took effect. Search 
was made to ascertain his whereabouts the next morning 
and he was found at his own home, suffering from the 
effects of the wound. Dr. D. C. Ainey was called and 
made an examination. He found the wound not of a 
serious nature and Dean will soon recover if nothing 



80 THE CURSE OF RUM. 

further occurs. He expressed himself as sorry that he 
made a failure of his attempt to take his own life." 

u Whiskey did it." The author is well acquainted with 
Mr. Dean. When not under the influence of drink, he is 
a whole-souled, genial, good fellow ; but when filled with 
whiskey, a demon in the form of a man. And still we in- 
sist that "rum and its allies are the basis and platform of 
universal crime." 

MEDICAL AUTHORITY. 

The following extract from the Pacific Medical 
Journal is endorsed by the officers of the Home Life 
Insurance Company (New York) and made use of by 
them in the form of a circular : 

"The fashion of the present day in the United States 
sets strongly toward the substitution of beer for other 
stimulating liquors. An idea appears to be gaining 
ground that it is not only nutritious but conducive to 
health, and further, that there does not attach to it that 
danger of creating intemperate habits which attends the 
use of other drinks. The subject is one of great magni- 
tude and deserves the attention of medical men as well 
as that of the moralist." 

Many years ago, and long before the moral sense of 
society was awakened to the enormous evils of intemper- 
auce, Sir Astley Cooper, an undisputed authority of his 
day, denounced habitual beer-drinking as noxious to 
health. Referring to Ms experience in Guy's Hospital, 



THE CURSE OP RUM. 81 

he declared that the beer-drinkers from London 
breweries, though presenting the appearance of most 
rugged health, were the most incapable of all to resist 
disease. Trifling .injuries among them were liable to 
lead to the most serious consequences, and that so 
prone were they to succumb to disease that they would 
sometimes die from gangrene in wounds as trifling as the 
scratch of a pin. 

We apprehend that no great change has taken place, 
either in beer or men, since the days of the surgeon. It 
may also be said of beer-drinking, that there is no less 
limitation to it than to the habitual use of other 
drinks. It does not produce speedy intoxication. 
When the drinker becomes accustomed to it, taken in any 
quantity, it will scarcely produce active intoxication. It 
makes him heavy, sleepy and stupid. Even in moderate 
quantities its tendency is to dullness and sluggishness of 
body and mind. Beer-drinkers are constant drinkers. 
Their capacity becomes unlimited. The swilling of the 
drink becomes a regular business. It has no arrest or 
suspension, like whiskey-drinking, to admit of recuper- 
ation. The old definition of a regular beer-drinker was 
true, "Every morning an empty barrel, every night a 
barrel of beer." Of all intoxicating drinks, it is the 
most animalizing. It dulls the intellectual and moral, 
and feeds the sensual and beastty, nature. Beyond all 
other drinks it qualifies for deliberate and unprovoked 
crime. In this respect it is much worse than distilled 



82 THE CURSE OF RUM. 

liquors. A whiskey- drinker will commit murder only 
under the direct excitement of liquor ; a beer-drinker is 
capable of doing it in cold blood. Long observation has 
assured us that a large proportion of murders deliberately 
planned and executed without passion or malice, with 
no other motive than the acquisition of property or 
money, often of trifling value, are perpetrated by beer- 
drinkers. I believe, further, that the hereditary evils of 
beer-drinking exceed those proceeding from ardent 
spirits ; first, because the habit is constant and without 
paroxysmal interruptions, which admit of some recuper- 
ation ; secondly, because beer-drinking is practiced by 
both sexes more generally than spirit-drinking ; and 
thirdly, because the animalizing tendency of the habit is 
more uniformly developed, thus authorizing the pre- 
sumption that vicious habits are more generally trans- 
mitted. 

Hence, it will be inferred from these remarks that we 
take no comfort from the substitution of malt drinks for 
spirituous liquors. On the contrary, it is cause of appre- 
hension and alarm, that just as public opinion, pro- 
fessional and unprofessional, is uniting all over the 
world in the condemnation of the common use of ardent 
spirits, the portals of death are opening in another 
direction. The war is not between labor and capital, but 
between labor and rum. The war does not cease there, 
but is carried on between the rum-seller and the rum- 
drinker. The battle-flag waves above every saloon, every 



THE CURSE OF RUM. 83 

brewery, every distillery and every licensed house ; they 
stand as masked batteries, sweeping their thousands into 
drunkard's graves and eternity. The question is, with 
the youth of our land, who's next to be swept into a 
drunkard's grave by their missiles of death? It is no 
bayonet-charge that puts an army to flight. The army 
of distilleries and brewers, and those who dispense their 
products in the bar-rooms, has laid siege to the army of 
honest laborers, and work their batteries day and night, 
and those who patronize the dram-shops must inevitably 
surrender their hard-earned wages, their health, their 
independence, their happiness, their good morals, their 
honor, their neighbor's respect, the respect of their 
families and eventually their lives. And yet, young 
men, old men, and middle-aged men, will you still per- 
sist in voting to keep these batteries in the field, pouring 
death and destruction into the ranks of the working man, 
destroying the peace, the happiness, and robbing your 
families of their honest living and happiness. Even the 
rum-seller himself will tell you how foolish you have been, 
but it is generally when it's too late. When your money is 
gone, your credit is gone ; then it is they will tell you, 
when you approach them on a cold, stormy night, and 
beg them to give you a night-cap, or last drink for the 
night ; again I repeat, it is then they willtell you in 
harsh tones, "Go home, you drunken fool ;" but, alas ! 
too late, your wealth is squandered, and you are a total 
wreck. 



Si THE CURSE OF RUM. 

THE GROG -SELLER'S VICTIM. 

The grog-seller sat by his bar-room fire, 
With his feet as high as his head or higher, 
Watching the smoke as he puffed it out, 
That in spiral columns curled about, 
Veiling his face in its fleecy fold, 
As lazily up from his lips it rolled, 
While a doubtful scent and a twilight gloom 
Were slowly gathering to fill the room. 

To their drunken slumbers, one by one, 
Foolish and fuddled, his friends were gone, 
To awake in the morn to the drunkard's pain, 
With a blood-shot eye and a reeling brain. 
Drowsily rang the watchman's cry : 
" Past two o'clock and a cloudy sky !" 
Yet the host sat wakeful still, and shook 
His head and winked, with a knowing look. 

• H : . " said he, in a chuckling tone, 

" I know the way the thing is done ; 

Twice five are ten, and another V. 

Two ones and two twos and a ragged three 

Make twenty-four for my well-filled fob ; 

He, he ! 'tis rather a good night's job. 

The foo-s have guzzled my brandy and wine ; 

Much good may it do them — the cash is mine !" 

And he winked again with a knowing look, 

And from his cigar the ashes shook ; 

1 ' He, he ! the fools are in my net ; 

I have them fast and I'll fleece them yet. 

There's Brown ; what a jolly dog is he, 

And he swills the way I like to see. 

Let him dash for a while at this reckless rate 

And his farm is mine, as sure as fate. 



THE CURSE OF RUM. 85 

" I've a mortgage now en Thompson's lot ; 
What a fool he was to become a sot ! 
But it's luck for me ; in a month or so 
I shall forclose, and the scamp must go. 
Zounds ! won't his wife have a taking-on 
When she learns that his house and lot are gone. 
How she will blubber and sob and sigh ; 
But business is business and what care I ? 

"And Gibson has murdered his child, they say. 
He was as drunk as a fool here yesterday, 
And I gave him a hint as I went to fill 
His jug, but the brute would have his will. 
And folks blame me ; why, bless their gizzards, 
If I dont sell, he will go to Izzard's. 
I've a right to engage in a lawful trade 
And take my chance where there's cash to be made. 

"If men get drunk and go home to turn 
Their wives out doors, 'tis their own concern, 
But I hate to have women coming to me 
With their tweedle-dum and their tweedle-dee, 
With their swollen eyes and their haggard looks, 
And their speeches learned from temperance books, 
With their pale, lean children, the whimpering fools — 
Why don't they go to the public schools ? 

" Let the huzzies mind their own affairs, 

For never have I interfered with theirs ; 

I will turn no customers away 

Who are willing to buy and able to pay. 

For business is business, he, he, he, he !" 

And he rubbed his hands in his chuckling glee. 

" Many a lark have I in my net ; 

I have them safe and I'll fleece them yet. 



86 THE CURSE OF RUM. 

" He, he ! ho, ho." 'Twas an echo sound ; 

Amazed, the grog-seller looked around, 

This side and that, through the smoke peered he, 

But naught but the chairs could the grog-seller see. 

" Ho, ho ! he, he !" with a guttural note, 

It seemed to come from an iron throat, 

And his knees they shook and his hair did rise, 

And he opened his mouth and strained his eyes ; 

And lo ! in a corner dark. and dim, 

Stood an uncouth form with an aspect grim. 

From his grizzly head through his snaky hair, 

Sprouted of hard, rough horns a pair, 

And redly, his shaggy brows below, 

Like sulphurous flames did his small eyes glow. 

His lips were curled with a sinister smile, 

And the smoke belched from his mouth the while. 

Folded and buttoned around his breast 
Was a quaint and silvery gleaming vest ; 
Asbestos it seemed, but we only guess 
Why he should fancy so cold a dress ; 
Breeches he wore of an amber hue, 
From the rear of which a tail peered through ; 
His feet were shaped like a bullock's hoof, 
And the boots he wore were caloric proof. 

In his hand — if hand it was — he bore, 

Whose finger's were shaped like a vulture's claws — 

A three tined fork, and its prongs so dull, 

Through the sockets were thrust of a grinning skull. 

Like a scepter he waved it to and fro, 

And he softly chuckled : "He, he ! ho, ho !" 

And all the while his eyes, that burned 

Like sulphurous flames, on the grog-seller turned. 



THE CURSE OE RUM. 87 

And how did he feel beneath that look ? 

Why, his jaw fell down and he shivered and shook, 

Ana quivered and quaked in every limb, 

As if an ague had hold of him ; 

And his eyes to the monster grim were glued, 

And his tongue was as stiff as a billet of wood, 

But the fiend laughed on : " Ha, ha ! he, he !" 

And he twitched his tail in quiet glee. 

" Why, what do you fear, my friend ?" he said, 

And he nodded the horns of his grizzly head ; 

" You're an ally of mine, and I love you well. 

In a very warm country that men call hell, 

I hold my court and I'm proud to say 

I have not a faithfuller friend in my pay 

Than you, dear sir, for a work of evil. 

Mayhap you don't know me; I'm called the Devil!" 

Like a galvanized corpse, so pale and so wan, 
Up started instanter the horror-struck man, 
And he turned up the whites of his goggle eyes 
With a look half terror and half surprise, 
And his tongue was loosed but his words were few. 
' 'The devil— you don't?"— " Yes, faith I do !" 
Interrupted old Nick ; " And here's the proofs, 
Just twig my tail, my horns and my hoofs. 

* 'Having come from warmer climes below, 
To chat with a friend for an hour or so, 
The night being somewhat chilly, I think 
You might ask an old fellow to take a drink. 
Now let it be strong — the pure, clean stuff, 
Sweetened with brimstone — a quart is enough; 
Stir up the mess in an iron cup, 
And heat up the fire till it bnbbles up." 



88 THE CURSE OF RDI. 

As the devil bade so the grog-seller did, 
Filling a flagon with gin to the lid, 
And when it boiled and bubbled o'er 
The fiery draught to his guest he bore. 
Nick in a jiffy the liquor did quaff, 
And thanked his host with a guttural laugh, 
But faint and few were the smiles I ween, 
That on the grog-seller's face were seen. 

For a mortal fear was on him then, 

And he deemed that the way of living 

He should walk no more, that his hour had come, 

And his master, too, to call him home. 

Thought went back on the darkened past, 

And shrieks were heard on the wintry blast ; 

And gliding before him, pale and dim, 

Were gibbering fiends and spectres grim. 

" Ho, ho !" said Nick, " 'tis a welcome cold 
You give to a friend so true and old, 
Who has been for years in your employ, 
Running about like an errand-boy ; 
But we'll not faU out for I plainly see 
You're rather afraid (it's strange) of me. 
Do you think I've come for you ? Never fear, 
You can't be spared for along time here. 

There are hearts to break, there are souls to win 

From the way of peace to the paths of sin ; 

There are homes to render desolate, 

There is trusting love to be turned to hate, 

There are hands that must murder, in crimson red, 

There are hopes to be crushed and blights to be shed 

Over the young, the pure and the fair, 

Till their lives are crushed by the fiend Despair. 



THE CURSE OF RUM. 89 

"This is the work you have done so well, 
Cursing earth and peopling hell, 
Quenching the light on the inner shrine 
Of the human soul, till you make it mine ; 
While want and sorrow, disease and shame, 
And crimes that I even shudder to name. 
Dance and howl, in their nellish glee, 
Around the souls you have marked for me. 

"Selling grog is a good device 

To make a hell of Paradise ; 

Where e'er may roll the fiery flood 

It is swollen with tears and stained with blood, 

And the voice that was heard erewhile in prayer 

With its muttered curses stirs the air, 

And the hand that shielded the wife from ill 

In its drunken wrath is raised to kill." 

"Hold on your course, you are filling up, 
With the wine of the wrath of God, your cup, 
And the fiends exult in their home below, 
As you deepen the pangs of human woe. 
Long will it be, if I have my way, 
Ere the night of death shall close your day, 
For to pamper your lust for the glittering pelf, 
You rival in mischief the devil himself." 

Xo more said the fiend, for clear and high 
Rang out on the air the watchman's, cry ; 
With a choking sob and a half-formed scream, 
The grog-seller waked — it was all a dream. 
The grizzily guest with his horns had flown, 
The lamp was out and the fire was gone, 
And sad and silent his bed he sought, 
And long of the wondrous vision thought. 



90 THE CURSE OF RUM. 

Nobody but an infernal scoundrel will sell whiskey and 
nobody but an infernal fool will drink it. 



CHAPTER V. 



So should we live that every hour 

May fall as falls the natural flower, 
A self-reviving thing cf power, 

That every thought and every deed 
May hold within itself a seed 

Of future good and future need, 
Esteeming sorrow, whose employ 

It is to develop, not destroy, 
Far better than a barren joy. 

— Lord Houghton. 

There is a case reported in Elizabeth, N. J., which 
reaches me as I sit down to my writing table, of a young 
man aged eighteen years, John Monahan, who was 
bantered by his comrades about his inability to drink. 
He replied : "I can drink all you can pay for." The 
men thereupon began to buy whiskey for him. He drank 
twelve glasses, staggered into the street and fell dead. 
And yet another case of the sad news of the death of Mr. 
Smith, of Harford, Pa., who, while crossing the track of 
the D., L. & W. R. R. at Montrose depot, under the in- 



1)2 THE CURSE OF RUM, 

fluence of liquor, attempted to cross in spite of the flying 
express that was within a few rods of the crossing ; but 
no, the train dashed on, demolishing the wagon, injured 
the horse, ruining it, and killing Mr. Smith outright. 

Men who drink the poisonous stuff must and will 
inevitably sink beneath its fatal touch. The word 
wine occurs two hundred and sixty-one times in the bible, 
of which number one hundred and twenty-one are warn- 
ings ; seventy-one warnings and reproofs ; twelve pro- 
nounce it poisonous and venomous, and five totally pro- 
hibit it. I have often heard men, in defending the use of 
drink, quote Paul as saying, "take a little for the stom- 
ach's sake." I do not recollect as Paul said any such 
thing, but if he did say it, he undoubtedly did not intend 
it as advice for men to take glass after glass, even of the 
sparkling wine, until they had become bloated by its ex- 
cessive use ; neither do I think that to-day, if he was on 
earth, he would sanction the use of poisonous drink or 
the sale of intoxicating drink under a license, but rathei 
feel inclined to think he would, like any other fair-minded 
man, adopt the resolution that I have set forth at the 
commencement of this work, viz: "That rum and its 
allies are the basis and platform of universal crime." 
But there's money in the traffic in rum ; yes, we know 
there is money in the liquor-traffic ; and that is not all, 
there is death and destruction in the rum- traffic ; there is 
poverty in it ; there is wealth for the rum-seller, but pov- 
erty for the drinker, poverty for the drinker's wife, pov- 



THE CURSE OF RUM. 93 

erty for the rum-drinker's children, poverty, neglect, star- 
vation, which leads to theft, murder and the gallows. 

A working man, whose habits had for many years been 
decidedly bad, to the injury of himself and family, was 
observed for some weeks to be a regular attendant at 
church. I occasionally saw him during the week and 
gave him a word of encouragement. A few days ago he 
told me the following incident : He was coming out of 
the street on which he resides as the bells were chiming 
for morning service, when he was met by four or five old 
companions, with whom he had been accustomed to spend 
his Sabbath mornings ; they jeered and challenged him to 
go along with them as of old, asking him what he got by 
his new ways ; whereupon he drew from his pocket a 
twenty-dollar gold piece, and showing it to them, said : 
"There, that is something which I get, and which of you 
can show me another?" Of course they could not, and 
he continued : " Now I can save money. I am happy, 
my family is happy, I have paid the pawnbroker my in- 
debtedness, and redeemed my clothes ; and am trying to 
live a sober life, as any man should do. That is what I 
get ! and it more than pays me." 

Evil weeds in your neighbor's field will scatter seeds of 
evil in your own, therefore every weed pulled up in your 
neighbor's field is a dangerous enemy driven off from 
your own. Rum and whiskey, and beer, and cider, and 
wine, are all dangerous weeds. Do not foster them, do 
not cultivate them in your own field, or in field or garden 



94 THE CURSE OF RUM 

of your neighbor. Sages of old contended that no sin 
was ever committed whose consequences rested on the head 
of the sinner alone ; that no man could do ill and his fel- 
lows not suffer. They illustrated it thus: "A vessel, 
sailing from a certain harbor, carried a passenger who, 
beneath his berth, cut a hole through the ship's side. 
"When the watch expostulated with him : 'What doest 
thou, oh ! miserable man ?' The offender calmly replied, 
'What matters it to you? The hole I have made is under 
my own berth." 3 This ancient parable is worthy of the 
utmost consideration. Xo man perishes alone in his in- 
iquity ; no man can guess the full consequences of his 
transgression. 

These lessons are better for knowing : that cheerful- 
ness can change misfortune into love and friends ; that 
in ordering one's self aright one helps others to do the 
same : and that the power of finding beauty in the 
humblest things makes home happy and life lovely. We 
can look upon the liquor traffic in no other light than the 
inevitable ruin of the peace, quiet and happiness of our 
nation. AVe firmly believe that the traffic in intoxicating 
liquors, now sanctioned by law, is productive of evil, and 
only evil, adding three-fourths to the taxation of the 
country and causing the waste of immense treasures of 
money, year by year, and everywhere bringing sorrow, 
poverty, disgrace and death, being the fruitful cause of 
crime, filling our poor-houses, jails and prisons with its 
victims . I have taken up the task of battling against 



THE CURSE OF RUM. 95 

the strongholds of rum. My voice, my ballot, and my 
pen, are my weapons in waging war against the manu- 
facture and sale of rum. Hoping the labor I have 
undertaken may be crowned with success in the near 
future, my earnest desire is that this work may 
meet with approval and find its way to the hearts 
of the American people, and they they will rise en 
masse and place their shoulder to the wheel and push on 
the work, in assisting to banish the demon Alcohol from 
our fair land. With the world, my wishes are to live at 
peace, but to the rum traffic let me ever be found a for- 
midable foe. The rum-sellers may hurl their missiles at 
me with all the fury of the Spartan, they fall harmlessly 
around, missing the mark ; but the arrows they hurl from 
the decanter are filled with poisonous venom, barricaded 
behind the bar. He sends forth the poisoned arrows. 
Lo ! they strike the centre, and the mark inevitably falls 
beneath its vital touch. 

The victims of the dealers in the hellish stuff are not 
the only sufferers, but wives are made widows, children 
orphans, and the once bright and happy homes of thousands 
are made desolate. The brain becomes crazed, the physical 
frame enfeebled and the character demoralized ; it causes 
brawls and disturbances in the streets ; it calls together 
the night revelers, the dens of vice are lighted with its 
burning shame, it is the stay to the arm of the assassin, 
the support of the thief, the burglar and the highway 
robber. It is the foundation and also the stepping stone 



96 THE CURSE OF RUM. 

to universal crime. It floods the country with debauchery 
and crime, wives and children's eyes with tears, our 
prisons with convicts and places of charity with paupers. 

It is a curse to the country, an evil that can and should 
be dispensed with. There are many reasons why we 
should be true and thorough advocates of the cause of 
temperance, and not only thorough advocates, but thor- 
ough workers in the cause. It is a cause of humanity. 
It has a tendency to lead men from the evil to the 
good, from darkness into light, from falsehood to truth, 
from brawls and disturbances into peace and happiness. 
Go to yonder city, behold there the ragged, barefooted 
child in the streets, hungry, half -starved, naked, pinched 
by the cruel, unrelenting hand of poverty, crying, u my 
mother is dead, my father is a drunkard and I must 
suffer on." Dear reader, this is a picture of every-day 
life in our cities and towns, and, rum-sellers, you are the 
artists who draw the picture with such accuracy. 

Five of the six murderers hanged on a recent Friday, 
in this country, declared that rum had led them into 
crime. 

The daughter of a man, resident in a neighboring vil- 
lage, died a few miles from home. The father went 
after the body to bring it home for burial. Before start- 
ing he took several drinks, and, not content with this, 
carried a bottle with him. On his arrival at the place 
where the body of his dead daughter lay, he was so 
drunk that he could not get out of the carriage. 



THE CURSE OE RUM. 97 

And yet this is a civilized land. Yes, the liquor was 
obtained in saloons licensed by a Christian people. 
Licensed for what ? 

Licensed to nerve the robber's arm, 
Licensed to whet the murderer's knife; 
Licensed, where peace and quiet dwell 
To bring disease, and want and strife. 
Licensed to make this world a hell below, 
A license to make the strong man weak, 
A license to bring the wise man low, 
Licensed the wife's fond heart to break 
And cause the children's tearsto flow. 

Men are licensed by a Christian, American people to 
sell the vile stuff that creates a hell in the brain of man, 
and in every family throughout the world, where its 
use is indulged in to an} T extent. It is high time that 
steps are taken in some direction to rid ourselves of the 
curse that so long has held our nation, our laws and our 
people in bondage. But my heart grows lighter, and 
flutters with high hopes of anticipation that the day has 
already dawned upon our shores, when our laws and 
legislatures and the voice of the American people shall 
no longer be throttled by the power of rum, standing 
behind the throne of King Alcohol. The firm grasp of 
the iron-handed king must yield to the trying of its 
metal in the furnace of purification. The temperance 
breeze is being fanned by the friends of humanity till its 
furnace already glows with fervent heat, and we look 
forward for the near future to bring the good news and 
glad tidings that the stern, tyrannical, destroying demon, 



98 THE CURSE CP RUM. 

King Alcohol, has been dethroned and driven into 
utter oblivion, beyond any possibility of a restoration to 
power. Right here I feel like using the words of Mrs. 
Smith in her temperance call : 

" Rally 'round the temperance banner, 

Let it proudly wave on high ; 

New recruits are now enlisting, 

Forward is the battle-cry; 

We are calling in our soldiers, 

Scattered o'er the country wide, 

See them rushing to the conflict, 

Falling in on every side. 

We are marching on to victory, 

Crushing out the serpent's trail, 

Kindly lifting up the fallen, 

Fearing not when foes assail, 

And we brand the gleaming wine-cup 

As a cruel, deadly thing, 
While we help the poisoned victim, 
And the balm of healing bring. 
Break from bondage, crave no pittance 
From the unwashed hands of power. 
Take no bribe, the gold is tarnished, 

And a curse rests on its dower. 
In this war against intemperance, 
In this holy work begun, 
Perish clan, nor cling to party 
Until victory is won." 

A GERMAN ON PROHIBITION. 

A German settler in Kansas thus writes of his experi- 
ence of prohibition in that State : "Like most Germans, I 



THE CURSE OF RUM. 99 

was very much opposed to prohibition before it was 
adopted in our own State. Indeed, my aversion was so 
great that I earnestly contemplated selling my farm and 
turning my back on Kansas. Fortunately for me, I could 
not sell. I say fortunately, because I have since found 
that I was greatly mistaken. The State, instead 
of going down, as was prophesied by the 
liquor party, has experienced the height of pros- 
perity. It was said that immigration would cease if pro- 
hibition was adopted, but the reverse took place. Immi- 
gration increases every day, and the price of land has 
raised in value. Farmers are in better circumstances 
than ever before." — Christian Herald. 

Look ahead, young man ! He was a youthful, smooth- 
faced prisoner and stood awkwardly at the Yorkville 
Police Court railing yesterday. "Michael Mulligan," 
said Justice Murray, "you are only nineteen years old 
and yet you were found drunk in the street last night." 
The prisoner laughed. "Don't make merry over your 
disgrace," said the Court, sternly, "for this is nothing to 
be proud of. Michael, just forget that you are in court 
and try to imagine yourself a bloated drunkard, with 
ragged clothes and trembling limbs — a man who sleeps 
in the gutter and is shunned by every one. Look a little 
farther on and imagine a gray-haired, half-naked corpse 
being buried in a grave in the Potter's field. Michael, 
you are looking upon your future self, unless you give up 
this terrible vice." "Me fader keeps a gin mill down in 



100 THE CURSE OF RUM. 

the Sixth ward. D'ye s'pose he'd send me to the Potter's 
field?" retorted Michael; "Ah, come off!" Justice 
Murray gave a disappointed sigh, the court officers 
looked shocked, and Michael, with his hat over his left 
eye, walked gaily into the prison to wait for somebody 
to pay his fine. — N. Y. Herald. 

Like thousands of others, this youth undoubtedly was 
placed behind the bar to deal out to others the poisonous 
drug and has been caught and ruined by the same bait 
that was set for others. How must an affectionate 
father and a kind and loving mother feel to look upon a 
scene of that description ? Have they not one spark of 
humanity yet burning within their bosoms? If so, go 
burn your gin-mill ere the setting of another sun, lest you 
ruin thousands of others as you have been the means of 
ruining your own son. 

All liquor dealers, like all drinkers, have their excuse 
for handling the poison ; but while the drinker may have 
different excuses, the rum-seller has but one, viz. : wealth. 
There is money in the traffic, they say, or we would not 
handle it ; in fact, we would not have anything to do 
with it, for it kills in time. But the drinker makes 
different excuses. When all excuses for drinking rum, 
or spirits of any kind, are examined by careful interro- 
gation of the ones who make them, they practically 
merge into one. One man drinks in summer because he 
says it makes him cool ; the same man takes an equal 
quantity of liquor in winter for the reason, as he says, 



THE CURSE OF RUM. 101 

that it makes him warm. When reminded, not even the 
extreme defenders of the supernatural ever claimed for 
any material or agency, the power of producing, at will, 
effects absolutely contrary to each other ; the reply 
generally is, "Well, I know this much, anyhow, whether 
I drink in hot or cold weather, it makes me feel k good.' " 
Old people often take a glass of liquor on the plea that 
they are feeble and the liquor strengthens them ; when 
told that almost all physicians deny that alcohol can 
possibly increase human strength, but that, on the con- 
trary, at its best it merely stimulates temporarily a set of 
nerves that must afterward adjust their disturbed con- 
dition by falling, to a corresponding extent, below their 
normal tone, the old men say, " Nobody need tell me that 
drink does not make me feel good." Many young men, 
whose blood is warm and whose nerve-force is almost in- 
vincible, have yielded to the habit of drinking liquor. 
They always seem to have an excuse ready, and they 
generally make use of that excuse ; they are tired, or 
they got wet, or they have cold feet, or they felt dull and 
drowsy, and they thought a drink would do them good, 
or it would make them feel good, anyhow, while it lasted. 
Anything for an excuse. 

I recollect a few years ago I was selling goods in La- 
fayette. It was in the winter and it was extremely cold ; 
the farmers were drawing their corn to the city, where 
they found ready market. I had occasion to step into a 
wholesale liquor store. In one end of the store there 



102 THE CURSE OF HUM. 

was a bar called the "sample-room." Whoever sampled 
it paid ten cents. They were not free samples. One farm- 
er came in all bundled up with overcoat and mittens, 
shivering with cold. He said, " Grogan, give me some 
of your 'Gold-dust' whiskey. I'm nearly frozen." 
Another man came in with coat and vest off. He had 
been shoveling corn in an elevator and was very hot- 
" Grogan, give me some 'Gold-dust.' I am very much 
heated up." An Indiana man with broad-brimmed hat 
was standing by the fire. Walking up to the bar smiling- 
ly, he said: "Grogan, give me some of that 'Gold-dust.' 
I am to have codfish for my dinner this noon ; the thought 
of it causes a thirst." It makes you feel good for a short 
time, but when such persons feel good under the influence 
of liquor, it is because alcohol, after temporarily stimu- 
lating all physical functions, decreases the sensibility of 
brain to nerve impressions. It is no more a cure than 
chloroform or ether, and its temporary comforting effects 
are dearly bought by the debasement and deterioration of 
the most delicate and important of all physical tissues. 
It is taken for the same purpose that impels the China- 
man to his pipe filled with opium. The respectable rum- 
drinker regards with the greatest contempt the frequenter 
of the opium-smoker's den, but in what way, let me ask, 
does he differ from him in his purpose ? Do not both in- 
dulge for the same purpose — for the purpose of deaden- 
ing the sense of bad feelings ? 

We see in our streets, even in small country towns, and 



THE CURSE OF RUM. 103 

much oftener in larger towns and cities, debauchery, 
poverty and crime to that extent that when we undertake 
to chronicle the events we almost drop our pen in disgust. 
Sickened with the results of our investigation, we can 
only ask, Why will men indulge in the habit of drinking 
the poison that not only kills, but fits men and women for 
the poor-house, the asylum, State prison and the gallowss . 
While writing the above the following sad case reaches me 
through the morning paper, headed — 

A CORONER'S TERRIBLE FIND. 

THE GRANDFATHER DEAD, HIS AGED WIFE DRUNK AND 
GRANDCHILD DYING OF POISON. 

Erie, Pa., June 11. — A frightful sight met the gaze of 
Coroner Smalley on responding to a call for an inquest 
over the body of John Lyons, aged seventy-five years. 
Lyons lay on the floor where he had died the day before 
while intoxicated. Near him lay his aged wife in a drunken 
stupor, and in a shed near by was found their four-3 T ear- 
old grand-child, dying from poison. The child had been 
sick several days and in its extremity had eaten a poison- 
ous weed that grew near the shed The grandmother, 
finding it in convulsions, gave it a heavy dose of whiskey. 
The mother of the child was in jail at the time on a charge 
of drunkenness. 

Not only men, but men and women, why don't you, as 
a body, wake from the lethargy? Buckle on your armor, 



104 THE CURSE OF RUM. 

fight the enemy that's lurking in our midst — a foe that has 
invaded our country, our domestic firesides, the homes of 
many, yes ! very many of the American people. Rise in 
your might and join the gathering throng whose chief end 
and aim is to banish alcohol from the shores of our own 
"beloved America." If you are not voters, raise your 
voice in favor of the temperance cause ; wield the pen if 
you cannot the ballot ; shout the battle-cry of freedom ; 
encourage others to help to crush the foe that never 
sleeps, the enemy that lurks in ambush, taking by surprise 
the innocent and unwary. The father imbibes, the 
mother and children suffer ; the husband indulges in the 
drinking habit, the young wife smarts under the torturing 
shame. Its influence is degrading, its effects ruining, it 
poisons the system, destroys the ability, paralyzes the 
brain, wrecks the constitution and unfits men and women 
for society. The English language does not contain 
words to condemn the rum-traffic in suitable terms to meet 
our views ; therefore, we must be contented with saying it 
is bad, very bad. Could we paint a picture and hang it 
up for the people of our nation to view in its true light — 
in the light of shame, misery, poverty, wretchedness and 
crime — I am sure the people would, with one voice, cry 
out : " Down with rum ! Down with rum ! Down with 
distilleries ! Down with breweries ! Down with the rum- 
traffic !" 



THE CURSE OF RUM. 105 

RUM, CRUEL RUM. 

Hark! all you friends of rum.* Listen, while I tell 
Of a thousand once fair, happy homes, that are made a burning hell. 
Where peace and joy and happiness once dwelt in every home, 
Now, misery, gaunt and ghastly glares ; brought there by cruel Rum. 

In a thousand homes, what poverty and wretchedness appears, 
The mother and the child but find relief in scalding tears. 
The kind caress and sunlit smile, that once filled each happy home 
Have fled, "forever", far. away, driven out by cruel rum. 

The drunken husband in the street, heeds not the unhappy wife, 
Marks not the weary hours roll, while slowly ebbs her life ; 
Hears not his children's hollow cries, like voices from the dead — 
O, Father ! cease your drinking rum, and bring your children bread. 

We're hungry, cold and shivering, no fire to keep us warm, 
The shingles from the roof have blown, and let in the driving storm ; 
The chilling winds and drizzling sleet beat on the window pane, 
Starvation's torturing pangs we feel; father's " drunk again." 

How cruel is the winter's blast that pierces us with cold ! 
Dark clouds of misery o'er us hang, our sorrows are untold ; 
But far more cruel are the pangs that flock around the home 
Where peace and joy and happiness are driven out by rum. 

Go sign the temperance pledge and keep it. 



* Within a certain area of New York city, comprising eight districts and having 
a population of 360,000, there are 3,103 saloons, and but thirty-one Trotestant 
churches. 



CHAPTER VI. 



The temperance question has been agitated for a long 
time and has done a great deal of good. Notwithstand- 
ing all that has been done, our efforts for repression have 
not been able to check or keep abreast of this swelling 
tide of demoralization that is sweeping over the country. 
Taken as a whole the necessity is forced upon us to arouse 
and utilize and increase the sentiment, that it may accom- 
plish more in the future. But it is not a wonder at all to 
the careful observer that the use of intoxicants is on the 
increase when we take into consideration the tide of immi- 
gration to this country, and considering the majority of 
the licenses granted in the United States are held by 
foreigners ; and, as the tide of immigration is constantly 
pouring into our country, the consequence is, the expense 
of drink has increased. Although it has increased to an 
enormous extent, the temperance workers have not be- 
come discouraged, for while the flow of immigration has 
been incessant, the temperance ball has been kept rolling 
and to-day, the tried and true soldiers in the ranks of the 



THE CURSE OF RUM. 107 

temperance army can be counted by millions and the 
good work goes on, and still we want more recruits. 
Christians, make your homes and houses recruiting offices ; 
ministers of the gospel, make your churches places to 
enlist soldiers for the temperance army ; infidels, set a 
pattern of sobriety before the people of the world ; 
teachers of all grades and branches of learning, make it 
your official duty to instruct those in your charge for in- 
struction, to join the host that war the deadly enemy Rum I 
voters, make your election districts and places of holding 
elections, places where you fight the foe that holds this 
land in bondage ; officers, who are elected to represent 
the voice of the people and wield the sceptre of the 
nation, make the place where you stand the battle-ground 
for liberty, whether it be in your homes, in the field for 
office or in the legislative hall ; statesmen, when you give 
advice to those who hold the reins of government in their 
hands, counsel them to legislate against an evil that makes 
demons of men and a pandemonium of the halls of legis- 
lature, destroys and takes away the rights, liberty and 
freedom of the nation and its people and reduces them to 
beggary and crime. 

When we review the statistics of the past, some twelve 
years ago, the nation's bill for drink was estimated from 
the most reliable revenue statistics at six hundred 
millions ; from the same source, ten years later, it 
amounted to one billion and forty- two millions, including 
both foreign and domestic liquors, while the increase in 



108 THE CURSE OF RUM. 

the indirect cost, results from depreciated physical 
capacity to labor, the loss of labor, the loss of wages and 
profits, and in many other ways, is perhaps fully as 
great The annual consumption of beer has increased 
from about twenty-two millions since 1840, to five hun- 
dred and fifty millions in 1884, that of distilled liquors 
from forty-two millions in 1840 to seventy-eight 
millions in 1884 and wines from five millions 
to twenty-three millions. Often I have heard self- 
willed Statesmen declare that the more beer there 
was drank, the less whiskey was consumed by those who 
drink, but this is not a fact ; on the contrary, during the 
last five years, while beer-drinking has increased about 
sixty and a-half per cent., whiskey-drinking has also in- 
creased forty-four and one-fifth per cent. While the 
population has only trebled since 1840, the consumption 
of liquor has been ten times as great. In 1840, it was a 
little over 4 gallons per capita ; in 1884, over 12 gallons ; 
in 1887, the drink rate per capita in the United States 
was 13 1-2 gallons, while in Canada it is 3 1-2 
gallons, New Brunswick 1 1-2 gallons, Prince Edward 
Island 3-4 of a gallon, in Belgium 11 1-2 gallons. Eng- 
land outstrips all other nations by consuming 30 gallons 
per capita. These amounts are enormous, and yet we 
are not alone in the realization of our danger, for a state- 
ment issued by the Belgium Patriotic League against 
drunkenness, thus sums up the case in that country, of 
the, present drink question : The number of public 



THE CURSE OF RUM. 109 

houses in 1858 was fifty-three thousand ; in 1880, one 
hundred and twenty-five thousand, and is at present one 
hundred and thirty thousand. The number of suicides 
during the last forty years has increased eighty per cent., 
the number of insane one hundred and forty per cent., of 
convicts one hundred and thirty-five per cent. Of the 
workmen who die in the hospitals, eighty per cent, are 
habitual drunkards. The conclusion arrived at by the 
League is that the Belgians are the most intemperate 
people in the world. But, gentle reader, do not let this 
jull you to rest. Whatever may be the conclusions of 
the League, were the empires, kingdoms and republics of 
the globe entered in a race on the drink question, America 
would not get distanced. There is a necessity of putting 
down the traffic of the vile, damaging poison, and it is 
plain to be seen by an unbiased, intelligent person who 
desires to see our country flourish in preference to heaping 
up wealth by ill-gotten gain. 

It is a well-established and conceded fact that the 
liquor traffic is the producing cause of a large portion of 
all the crime, poverty, insanity, suicides and diseases 
that exist in the land ; that it is the great disturber of the 
public peace, as well as the destroyer of domestic peace 
and happiness ; that it renders life, liberty and property 
insecure, and imposes upon the community heavy burdens 
of taxation without an equivalent or consent. Upon the 
ground of its legitimate tendency being to produce "idle- 
ness, vice and debauchery," and to create nuisances, the 



110 THE CURSE OF RUM. 

Supreme Court of the United States, and the highest 
courts of the States, have decided that laws entirely pro- 
hibiting it are constitutional ; that "idleness, vice and de- 
bauchery," being cankers on the body politic, endanger- 
ing its life, there must, of necessity, be inherent in it 
power to remove, in order to prevent its own destruction. 
In such decisions these highest courts have also held that 
these laws are for the protection of society and not for 
the regulation and control of the conduct of the indi- 
vidual, and, hence, in no sense partaking of "sumptuary 
laws," as they are so often falsely and knowingly styled 
by the liquor leagues and politicians of one of the great 
political parties ; and that neither are they restrictive of 
"personal liberty," except in so far as they restrain the 
individual from inflicting injury upon others, or society. 
In all such cases, the public safety must be the supreme 
law. 

Let not the sparkling glass entice you, 
Touch not, taste not, the poisonous drug ; 
It transfers men and makes them demons — 
Death lies at the bottom of the mug. 

Will you listen ? My dear friend, I only heard, to-day, 
That papa took his first drink in the saloon across the way. 
The bartender, with bewitching smiles, would oft invite him in, 
To join him in a game of pool, or to take a glass of gin, 
Which leads men on from bad to worse ; at last upon the brink 
Of ruin, they find, too late, they are lost through subtle drink; 
They find the seeds of discontent are sown through wicked rum, 
Where smiles of softest sunshine to our cottage home should come. 



THE CURSE OF RUM. Ill 

But, alas! a misspent life we never can recall. 

We hear the rumbling wheels of death ; see the writing on the wall, 

Which speaks in unmistaken terms ; we hear its echo's roll, 

As tighter coils the viper's cords around the drunkard's soul. 

Dear friends, let this a warning be, a light upon the shore, 

If you have ever sipped the wine, go thou and drink no more, 

For strong drink is debasing, it only brings us ill, 

While peace, joy, health and happiness flow from the sparkling rill. 

What is more refreshing on a hot summer's day than 
to drink from the crystal fountain that flows from the 
granite rock, its bubbling waters fresh from the deep re- 
cesses of the earth. Its cooling draughts give nourish- 
ment to the thirsty, and steadiness to the nerve. 'Tis 
cooling to the fevered brow, and gives health, happiness 
and peaceful slumbers to those who drink from its foun- 
tain ; while those who sip the ruby wine, suffer in dreams 
of terror, their hands become palsied, the elasticity of the 
step is gone, and they inevitably sink down into a 
drunken stupor, and finally fill a drunkard's grave. 



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114 THE CURSE OF RUM. 

The following lines, written by the author during the 
campaign of 1884 and dedicated to John P. Sfc John may 
not be wholly out of place : 

Listen ! ye free-born millions of our land, 

While we speak of the noble patriot, with sword in hand 

Already drawn to fight a deadly foe 

That's lurking in our land where'er we go. 

We know there's one, the noble, brave and true, 

That dare the vile wicked fiend pursue, 

Daring death, he leads his warriors on ; 

He is the noble, he's the brave St. John. 

He was the noble boy who made the vow, 

While in the field, following his father's plow, 

To fight in every form the demon Alcohol, 

And save his country from an ignominious fall. 

He was the governor who carried Kansas safely through ; 

He, among the first, the sword of Prohibition drew ; 

To-day he leads his noble warriors on ; 

Unchanged, unstained, he is the same St John. 

To-day he is the people's choice, 

Who will not listen to corruption's voice ; 

To-day he is our leader, brave and true ; 

His motto, freedom, with the red, the white and blue 

Borne on his banner ; see, words of living truth, 

Protection for the homes of the aged and the youth ; 

He fights for freedom, for the homes of every one ; 

Such is the virtue of our brave St. John. 

To-day he stands, the fearless and the brave ; 
At his country's call, he quickly flies to save 
From ruin — from the deadly power of rum — ■ 
All who claim protection and to his standard come. 



THE CURSE OF RUM. 115 

And fights with vengeance that fearful blighting curse 

That drives men mad, makes children beg and robs the purse ; 

He is our main-spring — the bail is rolling on ; 

He's built the funeral pyre for rum — such is our St. John. 

He is the man who dares to meet the maddening flame, 
And face the fiery danger of the rum-built shame ; 
He is the patriot who dare meet the wicked foe, 
And fight it face to face, to stop its rapid flow. 
He is the good Samaritan, who lifts the fallen up 
And dashes from our lips the fatal, poisonous cup ; 
Possessing the soul of a noble prince, he leads the people on, 
Till victory shall crown the efforts of St. John. 

His noble acts will never die, but, floating on the breeze, 
His name will live in memory in lands across the seas ; 
His name shall be a watch-word with the living, great and small, 
And millions shout the praise of him who banished alcohol. 
His fame shall ring throughout the world like an electric spark, 
Giving light to many happy homes that once were cold and dark ; 
Millions shall sing in praise of him who led the people on 
To fight the fiery fiend of hell — our leader, brave St. John. 

He is the man who bears no malice in his soul ; 

No wicked slander from his lips was ever heard to fall, 

But smiles of sweetest sunshine ever hanging on his face, 

He meets each question of the day with calm and noted grace. 

He speaks with silvery accents, his clarion voice 

Rings out for freedom ; he is the nation's >choice ; 

He is our leader brave and true, with him we are content ; 

He is a statesman true and bold, and our next President. 

Send up your banners to the breeze, let the cannons loudly roar, 
Ring out ye bells the glorious news that strong drink is no more. 
Let the news go forth from eastern hills to every western ranch, 
That in our homes peace is perched like a dove on an olive branch- 



116 THE CURSE OF RUM. 

Go tell to nations of the globe that rum has met its fall, 
That one brave son has brought defeat and conquered Alcohol. 
Then shout ! ye free-born millions, open wide your throats, 
For we'll send St. John to Washington with twenty million votes. 

The honor of our country, the good faith of the nation, 
the interest of the laborer, the rich, the poor and all 
classes demand a peace basis, where we can place all the 
obligations of the people of the United States and their 
implicit trust in safety, remote from crime, misery and 
thraldom ; remote from breweries, distilleries, rum-holes 
and dens of vice, where thousands of our youth of the 
land, of both sexes, are ruined and brought to lives of 
destitution, prostitution, and an ignominious death, 
either in State prison or upon the gallows. Under the in- 
fluence of strong drink the plans of criminals are laid 
and carried into execution. 

Where were the Anarchist's plans laid ? In a saloon. 

Where did they always meet? In a saloon. 

Where did the Chicago boodlers usually divide their 
commissions? In a saloon. 

Where are the primaries in cities usually held? In 
saloons. 

What is there in our Capitol at Washington ? A sa- 
loon. 

Where are many murders planned and committed? In 
saloons. 

Whence comes the boast that the liquor traffic controls 
all legislation in such states as Ohio, New York and Illi- 
nois? From the saloon. 



THE CURSE OF RUM. 117 

What is responsible for the murder of Haddock, Gam- 
brell, Northrup and many others — good and true men? 
The saloon. 

What is it that stands ready to ruin your boys ? The 
saloon. 

What institution of our country sends out frenzied and 
crazed men ? The saloon. 

What is the cause of nearly all the divorces caused by 
the neglect of home? The saloons. 

What is it your vote legalizes by voting for license ? 
The saloons. 

What is the greatest curse of our day, the greatest foe to 
our home, the implacable enemy of a pure life? The sa- 
loon. 

Who says we must endure it? The voter. 

Who has an opportunity to say it shall not be legalized? 
The voter. 

Who can teach even our United States government 
that it and distilleries need not be partners any longer ? 
The voter. 

Who can teach his neighbor these things? The voter. 

What is needed to kick out saloons? Votes. 

If every man waits till he sees votes get the necessary 
majorit} T , when will the kicking begin? Never. 

What is the issue above every other, now ! The home 
vs. the saloon. 

For which do you vote ? 

Can it be that the majority of the American people will 



118 THE CURSE OF RUM. 

sit silent and let the ravages of rum destroy their peace, 
their happiness, their homes and their country, and not 
seize upon the opportunity that is given them through the 
ballot-box to drive the demon from the land? Voters, it is 
with you to say whether you will make this a free country, 
or rivet the shackles of rum forever upon the American 
people. Now is the time, now is the crisis! 

11 The crisis presses on us ! face to face with us it stands, 
With solemn lips of question like the Sphinx of Egyptian sands- 
To-day we fashion destiny, our web of fate we spin, 
This day for all hereafter, choose we temperance or sin. 
Even now, from starry Gerizim, or Ebal's cloudy crown, 
We call the dews of blessing or the bolts of cursing down" 

It is for us to determine whether we shall make our 
nation and country a nation and empire of peace and 
prosperity, or make it a place of brawls and disturb- 
ances, a place of rum, riot and ruin. It is for us to say 
by our ballots whether we shall make our homes a hell, 
or bring to them the soft smiles of sunshine and peace. 

The earth is the mother of us all. When her bosoms 
are dry, a quenchless thirst overtakes and oppresses the 
sons of men ; when she withholds the corn, her children 
starve. This is true as to the supply of every physical 
want known to us. In Rome's brightest days all 
questions of legislation were discussed with relation to 
their effect upon the yoemanry of the country. This was 
one thought. The men who own and cultivate the soil 
are nearest the fountains of national supplies ; and the 



THE CURSE OF RUM. 119 

wisdom of statesmen, the charms of oratory and the 
skill of generals are nothing unless the men who bring 
forth the harvests are in sympathy with their plans, their 
legislation, and the military campaigns. This is as true 
to-day as in Rome's brightest days ; true under all forms 
of government ; especially true in a government like our 
own. The newest political philosophy that all human 
ills and all human poverties will be cured when the land, 
and that alone, is made answerable for the taxes, is quite 
an unnecessary statement in the face of the always fact 
that the land, and the human brain and muscle that make 
the land produce, have always, and always must, pay 
the taxes. All city growth and prosperity, all city 
beauty and attractiveness, whether in furnace, in factory 
or in store, in street or in park, are only the reflection of 
vast farms well cultivated, and multiplied farmers, wants 
well supplied and well paid for. On the moral and 
political side, such is the character of the concentrating 
populations in our cities, such the combinations for 
political fraud and deception, such the utter disregard 
for law, both civil and moral, such the determination 
of political leaders to make city governments the con- 
trolling and ruling factors in national government, that 
every American patriot must look, and does look, to the 
great agricultural population for the conservation of the 
nation, both in existence and in morals. It is the effort 
under a despotic government to have its influence flow 
out from the capitol to every part of the country and to 



120 THE CURSE OF RUM. 

all the people, and to make the expression of political 
sentiment at the outer verge of the nation to accord with 
the sentiment of the capitol and centers. With our 
nation, and under our form of government, the purpose 
and effort is, and must be, to have the government flow 
into the capitol, so that legislation, (law,) when placed up- 
on the statutes, will express the will and desire of the 
poorest and weakest citizen on the most remote verge of 
the nation. 

r JJpis is the spirit of a republic like ours. If, in the 
years 1859-60, government could have gone out from 
Washington over this country, then would this country 
have been dismembered, and the government destroyed, 
while the institution of slavery would have become deeper 
rooted and wider spread. It was in the free air that 
hovered over village and farm-lands of the North, where 
the storm-clouds gathered, and lightnings of human 
judgment, and justice, and indignation began their irre- 
sistible and their uncompromising assaults upon the 
institution and the profits of American slavery. When 
•town and city commerce, headed by men who had 
accumulated their millions out of the sweat and blood of 
the African, would gladly have compromised, fearing 
that the fountain of their gains was being destroyed, 
then shoulder to shoulder stood the men who breathed 
the free air of country and farm, and with prayer, and 
vote, and bullet, vowed no quarter to slavery until the 
fearful monster was destroyed. Yonder farmer may be 



THE CURSE OF RUM. 121 

slow to grasp the principle involved ; slow to change 
from the old to the new ; slow to step from one platform 
to another ; but when the principle is once grasped by 
his brain and conscience, he puts in his plow to stay, and 
stops not until the whole field is plowed, the seed sown, 
and the harvest gathered. When — as in an eld classic 
story — the father sat amid his sons, and counseled re- 
garding the enlargement and the improvement of their 
home, "Go," said the father to his oldest son, "and see 
what Mother Earth says ;" so, to-day, when Columbia 
would improve her house, it becomes her to hear what 
the farmer says. 

To-day as great a question as that of American slavery 
is before the American people : a question in which is 
wrapped up the interests of American youth, and the 
peace of American homes. This question is, which shall 
bear rule in American government — the home or the 
saloon ? Which shall bear rule ; which shall elect the 
men who are to be our law-makers and our office holders? 
The distillery, the brewery and the saloon, with their 
moral apostates, and crime and sorrow-bringing patrons? 
Or shall it be the moral-loving, school-loving and home- 
loving, who shall dictate the government of this 
country? As a rule, the distillery, the brewery and the 
saloon marshal their forces in the large cities, and seek 
in one form and another to pile up such majorities in 
cities and towns as to overcome the vote of the peace- 
loving, order-loving, and home-loving country. Let me 



122 THE CURSE OF RUM. 

ask you, my farmer friend, do you propose to permit the 
saloon to dictate the government of your farm ? Would 
your farm and your home be benefited by a saloon next 
to your door, where your sons could learn to drink and 
become drunkards ? Where they could spend their hard 
earnings and yours, and their evenings? Where they 
could get fire to burn up all the peace and comfort of 
your home ? Say, my farmer friend ; say, my friend 
mechanic ; say, my professional friend, which shall be 
master of the country, you or the saloon-keeper ? How 
much are you willing to take from the saloon-keeper in the 
form of a bribe, called a tax — in fact, a license — and 
permit him to be master, while you and your family are 
slaves ? 

We listen in our dreams, and we wake to the stern 
realities of the fact that we can hear the voice of the 
farmer, the mechanic, and the professional men crying 
out, viva voce, the saloon shall be prohibited under the 
stars and stripes, and be banished from American soil. 
Iowa spoke, by nearly thirty thousand majority, the 
home is greater than the saloon ; Kansas speaks with un- 
mistakable distinctness, the home is greater than the 
saloon. The time is not distant when all the States and 
Territories will speak, and the united chorus of the 
national anthem will be : The home is greater and better 
than the saloon, and the home demands that the saloon 
be everywhere prohibited. To secure this desirable end, 
the country's richest harvest must come from the un- 
purchasable vote of the country and the farm. 



THE CURSE OF itUM. 123 

Only one-fifth of the population of the United States 
is city and town, village and hamlet, the larger portion 
being country people ; but, notwithstanding all this, the 
cities and towns furnish the largest share of crime, 
pauperism, social vices and commercial disturbances, and 
almost exclusively the corrupt influences and forces of 
our political life, and this one-fifth of the population are 
masters of the whole country, politically. They enact 
our laws, elect our officers, control the administration of 
State and nation, while four-fifths of our people must 
bear the oppression and suffer the evils of bad adminis- 
tration. 

Wherever the question of prohibition is voted on, the 
country votes for it by large majorities. When defeated, 
it has been defeated by the city vote. In the recent 
vote on the constitutional amendment in Michigan, nine 
out of eleven of the congressional districts, and over two- 
thirds of the senatorial and representative districts, voted 
for the amendment. It is unquestionably true that to- 
day the majority of all the legislative districts in the 
whole country are in favor of prohibition. Thus it is 
seen that the four-fifths (the country vote) might con- 
trol, but that the one-fifth (the city vote) does control, 
or why do we not have prohibition ? It is evident that 
the corrupt force in politics must be a vote which, by 
corrupt means, can be turned from one party to the 
other, and thus control elections. Of the country vote, 
only the very smallest portion can be turned from one 



124 THE CURSE OF RUM. 

party to the other. It can be seen from election tables 
that this floating vote is a city vote, and by locating the 
vote in the cities, as can be clone with an election table 
and map of the city, it is found to be the "slum" vote, a 
vote organized in, controlled by and disposed of by the 
saloons. The controlling vote of the city of Cincinnati 
is mostly "Over the Rhine" — a portion of the city thus 
named and of the most low, degraded character. It has 
been known to change its vote from a three-fourths vote 
one way to a three-fourths vote the other, from one elect- 
ion to another. In the last Presidential election, its vote 
was one way by a vote of almost four out of five. (The 
vote was for Blaine) . Thus the controlling vote is made 
plain. Those persons who change their vote determine 
elections. In cities the same thing is done over again. 
Four-fifths of the voters might prefer honest legislation, 
but, in round numbers, of the four-fifths, two-fifths vote 
Republican and two-fifths Democratic. One is an offset 
to the other, practically leaving the field to the city vote. 
In that way a handful of men in Michigan, not more than 
twenty thousand, in Ohio, not more than forty thousand, 
in New York, not more than seventy-five thousand, and 
these, the most ignorant, criminal and vicious portions of 
society, are made the controllers of public affairs, and 
through controlling a few States like these, control the 
nation. Now, the question arises, how are we to remedy 
this evil? There can be but oneway. Put the moral 
agricultural, industrial portion of society together in a new 



THE CURSE O* RUM. 125 

party against the bribers and the bribed ; put the large 
majorities of Prohibitionists which now exist in the rural 
districts, together in the new party. Once together, they 
go immediately into power. When there, every selfish 
motive, as well as every patriotic one, will demand the 
correcting of these wrongs. Scallawags will be turned 
out of offices of trust and honest men fill their places ; 
the wrongs the people so long have suffered shall be set 
right; then, without a blush, may we boast of our 
Goddess of Liberty enlightening the world. 



CHAPTER VII. 



There's a wonderful fountain of liquid joy, 

Flowing forth in a crystal rill ; 
Forever and ever it welleth up 

From the misty depths of the still. 
In its widening course as it hurries along, 

It circles the wide world 'round, 
And side by side, as they drink of its tide, 

The prince and the beggar are found, 
While poets sing, so merrily sing, 

As they quaff it again and again : 
" It's only the life of the wheat and the corn, 

Which nature has given to men." 

Come, drink of this nectar, and feel the warm glow 

Of summer, with autumn's content ; 
Thy pulse shall thrill like the breath of June, 

When the sunshine and shadows are blent 
With carol of birds, in the dew-spangled dawn, 

When the dawn is imprisoned with light. 
Men and maidens shall sing the sweet " Harvest Home," 

In ravishing strains of delight, 
And children shall laugh, while they join in the song, 

Re-echoed through valley and glen : 



THE CURSE OF RUM. 127 

" Tis the mingled souls of the wheat and corn, 
Which the Giver hath given to men." 

While the world is enticed by the poet's song, 

I sit by the worm of the still ; 
I chuckle and laugh with the fiends by my side, 

And a death dealing potion distill. 
Such glorious landscapes I paint on the brain, 

They seem but a feast of delight ; 
Then I rattle my skeleton bones beside, 

Till reason has fled in affright. 
Drink deep from the cup of the river of life, 

Drink deeper, I whisper, and then 
I crush out the life of the wheat and the corn, 

While I rivet my chains upon men. 

I mingle the threads of the woven gold, 

Which kings are entitled to wear, 
With a weed so fine that kings will choose 

To sleep in a beggar's lair. 
I crumble the walls of palaces grand, 

And build up hovels instead, 
While maidens and mothers with anguish moan, 

And children are crying for bread ; 
*My vassals are shouting in fiendish glee, 

From mountain, from forest and fen, 
The liquid joy from wheat and corn, 

Is the river of death unto men. 

And who shall hinder its surging tide, 
As it moans in sullen roar? 



* The 1,000,000 population of Philadelphia are prevented from going thirsty 
by 6,000 saloons and hotels. 



128 THE CURSE OF RUM. 

■ ' The world is circled from pole to pole, 

Xo strand, save eternity's shore." 
Forever and ever it hurries on, 

a I the world with woe doth fill, 
For the demons are building the gallows high, 

Enwrapped by the mists of the still. 
And I gibber and laugh in ghoulish glee, 

As I hide me away in ray den : 
4 'Whence cometh the souls of the wheat and the corn ? 

Whither goeth the souls of men ?" 

L. J. C 

ROBERT G. UN'GERSOLL's TRIBUTE TO WHISKEY. 

I send you some of the most wonderful whiskey that 
ever drew a skeleton from the feast or painted landscapes 
in the brain of man. It is the mingled souls of wheat 
and corn. In it you will find the sunshine and the shadow 
that chased each other over the billowy fields, the breath 
of June, the carol of the lark, the dews of night, the 
wealth of summer, and autumn's rich content, all golden 
— ith imprisoned light. Drink it, and you will hear the 
voice of men and maidens singing the ••Harvest Home," 
mingled with the laughter of children. Drink it, and you 
will feel within your blood the startled dawns, the dreamy, 
tawny dusks of many perfect days. *For forty years this 
liquid joy has been confined within the happy staves of 
. longing to touch the lips of man." 



*Aslong happj staves, it will not poison man's lips, 

r brain. Tetter tlie cask a wreck than the man. 



THE CURSE OF RUM. 129 

Yes, Robert, your tribute to whiskey is beautiful, that 
is, the language you used is beautiful ; but it can hardly 
come up to the odium you heaped upon its use and effects 
when you spoke in Utica, using quotations from an author 
without giving credit, which were as follows : " Let us 
speak of a few of the evils that arise from the use of al- 
coholic drink. It destroys the health and inflicts ruin 
upon the innocent and helpless ; it invades the family and 
social circle and brings sorrow in every household ; it cuts 
down youth in all its vigor, manhood in its strength, and 
age in its weakness ; it burns men, consumes women, em- 
bitters life, curses everything good, and despises Heaven ; 
it suborns witnesses, nurses perjury, defiles the jury-box, 
and stains the judicial ermine ; it bribes voters, corrupts 
elections, poisons our institutions, and endangers our gov- 
ernment ; it brings shame, not honor ; terror, not safety ; 
despair, not hope ; misery, not happiness. And now, 
with all the malevolence of a fiend, it calmly surveys its 
frightful desolation ; and, insatiate with havoc, it poisons 
felicity, kills peace, ruins morals, blights confidence, 
slays reputation, and wipes out national honor. ,, 

Perhaps a very small drink might drive the skeleton 
from the feast, but alas ! where it drives the skele- 
ton away once, it brings the wolf to the door ten 
thousand times. A light dose of strychnine often cures 
rheumatic pains, but a little too heavy a dose inevitably 
kills. In either case there is no antidote that can restore 
life. 



130 THE CURSE OF RUM. 

But the awful harvest stops not there. When the 
thread of the drunkard's life is spun out to its utmost ex- 
tent, and death has closed the career of a worthless life, 
he leaves his family in sadness, in destitution, in poverty, 
in dishonor, and on the mercy of a cold, uncharitable 
world, only to ponder upon the past wrongs and suffer- 
ings he has forced upon his wife and children, who are 
now left the innocent sufferers of his neglect, cruelty, and 
drunkenness. Not only to families alone is suffering 
confined. Many times whole nations are brought to grief 
through the agency of alcohol and its surroundings. 
Guiteau was an illustration of criminals reared under its 
influence. As a boy he was reckless and ungovernable. 
Later we find him among a sort of religious criminals in 
Oneida county, a sect or sort of free-love saints, which 
the authorities of the State of New York dared not, or 
cared not, to sweep out of existence. His only idea as a 
boy, youth, or man was to gratify his depraved nature, 
and the more he gave way to it the more debauched he 
became. He lounged about saloons and low lodging- 
places, houses of prostitution, inflamed by drugged 
whiskey and, bloated by his own self -consciousness, 
fancied himself a statesman. Because President Garfield, 
true to himself, true to his country, and true to his place 
of honor and trust, refused a place of trust to this grad- 
uate of the dens of vice and iniquity, he fancied himself 
grossly injured, swore vengeance upon the chief magis- 
trate of the nation, and carried his threat into execution 



THE CURSE OF XUM. 131 

by the assassination of the President. The world was in 
a flutter, and our nation mourned the loss of a patriot 
and statesman. Mr. Garfield represented at that time, 
more than any other man, the true standard of American 
liberty. From a poor, hard-working boy, he climbed the 
ladder of fame, step by step, until he had reached the 
topmost round and filled the highest position in the land. 
He was distinguished for his finished scholarship, broad 
views, liberal statesmanship, and Christian character. 
Guiteau was the natural offspring of the saloon and 
communism. Has it come to that, fellow citizens of this 
vast commonwealth numbering nearly sixty millions of 
free people, that your will at the ballot-box shall be de- 
feated by one of the progeny of the nation's curse ? If so, 
America may well shudder because of the thousands of 
dens of vice and iniquity within her borders, licensed by 
the government and protected by the State, and backed 
up by millions of individual wealth. 

Alas ! Besides the mother and wife and children of our 
President, thousands of wives and mothers and children 
have been crushed beneath the wheels of death, poverty 
and destruction, and yet the cruel work goes on and the 
people are not ready to check it in its mad career. 

How long, O, Lord, shall this bright hour delay ? 

Fly swift around, ye wheels of time and bring the welcome day." 

The whiskey dealers have taken and are taking every 
pos sible step to barricade the strongholds of the traffic, 



132 THE CTB.SE OF RUM. 

by sending to the legislative halls members who favor the 
traffic in the ruinous, damnable stuff. In order to secure 
othold in the legislatures, they send lobbyists 
back vre&lth, to induce bribery where 

they cannot, by flattering words, win the members who 
might, possibly, be persuaded to vote to carry measures 
in favor of the rum-seller and manufacturer, the brewery 
and the beer saloon. The: >h in the manufacture 

and sale of the pc ad well can they afford to bribe 

- who succeed in carrying measures favoring 
raffic. 
But. dear reader, I side to the liquor 

traffic ; it not only brings wealth to the brewers, wealth 
to the distillers, riches to the hotel aud saloon-keeper, but 
rings abundance to the drinker. Abundance of what? 
Abundance of bad feelings, abundance of rags, abund- 
ance of filth, abundance of poverty and disgrace, abund- 
ance of disturbance in frightful dreams, abundance of 
bad companionship, and, finally, it brings a tremor, 
yawning hell, and a drunkard's grave. To the drinker's 
wife it brings abnndance of sorrow, abundance of hunger 
and B >n, nakedness and want. How much better 

is it than theft or murder? It takes the last lime from 
the husband and father, robs their wives and children o ' 
what should be theii own and drives them to the poor- 
house and asylum. 

aunt beckt's advice. 

" Jediah. ::: y:u: s'i^rers on 
And cease your needless clatter ; 



THE CURSE OF RUM. 133 

I want to have a word with you 

About a family matter. 
I heard you on your knees last night, 

Ask help to keep from strayin', 
And I want to know if you 

Will vote as you've been prayin' ? 
Jediah, look me in the face ; 

You know the world's condition, 
Yet you have never cast a vote 

Right out for prohibition. 
You've prayed as loud as any man, 

While with the tide a-floatin' ; 
Jediah, you must stop sich work, 

And do some better votin'. 
*We women pray for better times, 

And work right hard to make 'em. 
You men vote whiskey with its crimes, 

And we jist have to take 'em. 
How long, Jediah, must this be ? 

We work and pray 'gainst evil, 
You pray all right for what I see, 

But vote plumb for the devil. 
There, now, l'vesaid my say and you 

Just save your ammunition, 
And vote the way you've always prayed, 

For total prohibition." 



*Little boy's prayer : " O Lord, please to make me a good bov, and : .i :i5 first 
you don't succeed, try, try again." 



CHAPTER VIII. 



We are not much more of a friend to the use of tobacco 
than rum. So we will wander a trifle from our subject 
and copy a short chapter on tobacco that we clip from the 
Christian Secretary. 

" Then shall the kingdom of Satan be likened 
to a grain of tobacco seed ; though exceeding 
small, being cast into the ground, grew aud became a 
great plant, and spread its leaves, rank and broad, so 
that huge and vile worms formed a habitation thereon. 
And it came to pass in the course of time that one came 
to look upon it and thought it beautiful to look upon aud 
much to be desired to make lads look big and manly. So 
they put forth their hands and did chew thereof. And it 
made them sick, and others to vomit most filthy. And it 
farther came to pass that those who chewed became weak 
and unmanly, and said, 'We are enslaved and can't cease 
from chewing it.' And the mouths of all that were en- 
slaved became foul ; and they did spit ; even in ladies' 
parlors and in the house of the Lord of Hosts, and the 
saints of the most high were greatly plagued thereby. 
And in the couise of time it also came to pass that others 



THE CURSE OF RUM. 135 

snuffed it ; and they were taken suddenly with fits, and 
they did sneeze with a great and mighty sneeze, insomuch 
that their eyes filled with tears, and they did look exceed- 
ingly silly. And yet others cunningly wrought the leaves 
thereof into rolls and did set fire to one end thereof, and 
did suck vehemently at the other end thereof, and did 
look very grave and calf-like ; and their smoke ascended 
up forever and ever. And the cultivation became a great 
and mighty business upon the earth ; and the merchant- 
men waxed rich by the commerce thereof. And it came 
to pass that the saints of the Most High defiled them- 
selves therewith ; even the poor, who could not buy shoes, 
nor bread, nor books for their little ones, spent their 
money for it. And the Lord was greatly displeased 
therewith, and said : 4 Wherefore this waste ; and why 
do these little ones lack for bread and shoes and books ? 
Turn now your fields into corn and wheat ; and put this 
evil thing far from you ; and be separate, and defile not 
yourselves any more ; and I will bless you and cause my 
face to shine on you.' But with one accord they all ex- 
claimed ; ' We cannot cease from chewing, snuffing and 
puffing — we are slaves.' And this vile, filthy, weed-nursed 
land, cultivated by Satan and his admirers, costs the con- 
sumers of tobacco in one year, in the United States, six 
hundred millions of dollars, which far better go for bread 
for the starving, books for the uneducated, and clothing 
for the half-naked. ,, 



13(3 THE CURSE OF RUM. 

Tobacco is an Indian weed, 

From the Devil it does proceed ; 

It robs the purse and *burns the clothes, 

And makes a chimney of the nose. 

Friends of Temperance, friends of Liberty and Free- 
dom, will you help this commonwealth, which is the 
battle-ground between light and darkness, liberty and 
bondage, life and death? If you answer as your heart 
tells you, you must remember there is no time for delay. 
Prompt action and thorough work is need. The contest 
should be made so vigorous that it will be short, but un- 
less we do it decidedly and speedily it must continue for 
years. The time has come. The time is now to unsheath 
the sword of justice and wave it over the head of the 
demon, and with a strong nerve make the fatal thrust 
that will sever the vital cords that bind our country and 
its people in thraldom. Our people are slaves to the rum 
power, and the sooner the blow falls with unmistakable 
exactness upon the enemy, the sooner the dove of peace 
will flutter its silken wings over the homes of the Ameri- 
can people ; the sin-curse of the hellish traffic be driven 
from our land ; the prisons converted into workshops ; our 
poor-houses become places of industry ; the saloon occu- 
pied as schoolrooms ; and the breweries and distilleries 
turned into storehouses that shall contain bread for the 
starving millions. Now, do I say? Yes, now ! We are 



*It burn* the clothing from the backs of the people to the amount of $600,- 
000,000 yearly. 



THE CURSE OF RUM. 137 

not sure of to-morrow, and the longer the delay the 
stronger the enemy becomes fortified. Now ! I repeat it, 
now ! 

Buckle on your armor, you who have courage to fight 
for the freedom of your country, the freedom of the 
people, freedom of the press, and the freedom of civil 
rights. Run up your banners to the breeze, let them float 
on the breath of freedom, let your motto be inscribed on 
each banner : Temperance and Liberty. Let the watch- 
word from soldier to soldier be, "Free America, Free 
Citizens, Free Homes. " Let it be run all along the lines ; 
let it pass from soldier to soldier, until it spreads from 
shore to shore ; let it fill the air with its echoes until it 
reaches the highest point of Heaven's dome. Dr. J. G. 
Holland says : " I neither drink wine nor give it to my 
guests. Strong drink is the curse of the country and the 
age. One hundred thousand men in America every year 
lie down in the graves of drunkards. Drink has murder- 
ed my best friends and I hate it. It burdens me with 
taxes, and I denounce it as a nuisance on which every 
honest man should put his heel. I do not ask you to put 
your heel on the drunkard, but to make the spirit of your 
guild so strict and pure that no man of your number will 
dare to trifle with your opinion # and sentiments on the 
subject." 

Dr. Holland is correct as to the wisdom in not drinking 
wines or liquors, but is far too lenient in giving the number 
of men that fill drunkard's graves. If he had placed the 



138 THE CURSK OF HUM. 

number at one hundred and sixty thousand, it would be 
nearer correct. 

The Prohibition party of Pennsylvania, in State con- 
vention assembled, *make the following declaration of 
principles, to secure the triumph of which it is organized 
and will continue to labor : 

First. — We acknowledge Almighty God as the source 
of all power, aud with his assistance, in conformity with 
the divine law, we will labor on in the struggle for the 
extermination of the drink traffic. 

Second. — We declare that no political and preventable 
evil or combination of evils so clogs the progress of good, 
so burdens industry and trade, so corrupts politics and 
legislation, so endangers life, liberty and property, so 
threatens the perpetuity of free institutions, as the 
liquor traffic. No political issue is so important as is the 
suppression of the manufacture and sale of intoxicating 
beverages, and we demand the prohibition of the same by 
statutory and constitutional enactment, faithfully enforced, 
as the only corrective agency for the evils arising there- 
from. 

Third. — We declare that during the past year, the cur- 
rent of party declarations and actions gives no promise 
that either the Republican or Democratic parties wil 
make the legal prohibition of the drink traffic the object 



♦Convention convened 1887. 



THE CURSE OF RUM. 139 

of party support, and that, therefore, the citizen who de- 
sires prohibition and relief from responsibility for and 
complicity in the drink trade, cau find it only by casting 
his vote with the prohibition party — the only party that 
dares meet the saloon powers at the ballot-box. 

Fourth. — We denounce the hypocrocy of the Repub- 
lican party in pretending to favor the prohibition of the 
drink traffic by passage of a resolution for the submission 
of a constitutional amendment prohibiting the manufac- 
ture and sale of intoxicating liquor, and then nullifying 
the same by the passage of a high license law, with the 
approval, as we believe, of the liqnor interest of the 
State, in and by a division of the license fees, to make the 
citizens of the commonwealth in every county, city and 
borough, partners in the profit of the liquor traffic, and 
thereby secure the defeat of the amendment, if finally 
snbmitted to a vote of the peoble. 

Fifth. — We declare the action of the late legislature in 
refusing to prohibit the sale of intoxicating liquors on 
Memorial Day, and in the enactment of the present "High 
License Law," as satisfactory evidence of the complicity 
of the Republican and Democratic parties with and their 
subjection to saloon power. 

Sixth. — We favor protection to American labor and 
capital ; the restriction of immigration, as against pauper 
and criminal classes ; the reservation of our public lands 
for actual settlers ; popular education, with the retention of 
the Bible in our public schools ; just pension to our de- 



140 THE CURSE OF RUM. 

pendent soldiers on their families ; civil service based on 
personal character and official fitness, and a wise and 
economical administration of public affairs. 

Seventh. — Custom duties should be so levied as to 
protect, promote and extend American labor, wherever 
and whenever foreign labor and capital shall eompete. 

Eighth. — TTe demand a system of taxation which shall 
bear equally on every species of taxable property and 
upon all taxable persons and corporations alike. 

Ninth. — VTe favor a just system of arbitration for the 

settlement of differences between neighbor and neighbor, 

employer and employee, as well as for settlement of in- 
ternational difficulties. 

Tenth. — The earnest and energetic labors of the women 
of the State for the promotion of temperance merits our 
gratitude ; viewing with alarm the shiploads of ignorant 
and vicious men who are annually brought to our country, 
and who. soon becoming voters, control our large cities, 
endangering life, property and our civil and religious in- 
stitutions, we shall hail with satisfaction the day when 
the intelligence and virtue of American women, our only 
political counterpoise to this ignorance, shall be clothed 
with legal power, their rightful due, to practically and ef- 
ficiently defend "home and native land'' with their ballots. 

Eleventh. — VTe declare that Pennsylvania is a Christian 
commonwealth ; was founded to promote civil and re- 
ligious liberty : that our fathers acknowledged the God of 
the Bible as their God and the Supreme Ruler, and the 



THE CURSE OF RUM, 141 

Bible as containing His code of laws. The religion of 
the Bible was their religion, and continued to be the re- 
ligion of our people, and we have the right to expect and 
demand from their servants in Legislature and executive 
power such laws as will protect them in their religious 
conviction and observances, not conflicting with the per- 
sonal liberty and equal rights of others. And we farther 
declare that the quiet enjoyment of the Sunday of our 
fathers, with its instruction and influences, so promotive 
of public good, is an inheritance which must be defended 
against all similar employments and all attempts of men 
to treat it "as any other day," whatsoever be the plea or 
pretext. 

Twelfth. — That we declare in favor of laws against 
discrimination by corporations, and arraign the Repub- 
lican and Democratic parties for their hostility to and of 
anti-discrimination measures proposed at the last session 
of the Legislature for the defence of the weak against 
the strong. 

Thirteenth. — We also arraign the Republican party for 
the mysterious defeat of the State revenue bill, by means 
of which the corporations of the State escaped the pay- 
ment of over 82,500,000 of just taxation, while the labor- 
ing, mechanical and farming interests of the State in 
many ways are compelled to pay the same by an u nequa 
and unjust system of taxation. 

f Fourteenth. — Returning thanks to Him who is the 
wonderful, the chancellor, for his guidance and aid in the 
past, for the efforts now so auspiciously prevailing in the 



142 THE CURSE OF RUM. 

States of the Union for the abolition of the drink traffic, 
and relying upon him for success, we shall go from this 
convention to supplement and support moral efforts by 
our votes for securing the peace and prosperity of our 
State by the overthrow of the saloon — the primary object 
of the Prohibition party, and to this end we cordially ask 
the aid of all citizens without distinction to party, race 
or sex. 

The above is the platform or resolutions adopted by the 
Prohibition party at their State convention, held at Harris- 
burg, September, 1887, in and for the State of Pennsyl- 
vania. We would like to ask, who can find fault with 
such resolutions, adopted and carried out to the letter ? 
We answer, no one will find fault with the genuineness of 
such resolutions, or the feasibility of them ; but the 
manufacturers and those who handle intoxicating liquors 
will kick against their being carried into effect, because a 
source of great wealth to them is at stake, regardless of 
the ruin, misery and poverty it brings to the drinkers and 
their families. 

In conversation with a hotel-keeper a short time since, 
while discussing the merits of the liquor traffic, he ad- 
mitted it was "bad stuff," but said, " its takin' away our 
rights that the government gives us." We will admit 
it is taking away some rights that our government gives 
its citizens. It is taking away their right, accord- 
ing to law, to sell the "bad stuff" that makes drunkards 
of all who drink it, for if ten glasses will make a man 
beastly drunk, one glass will make him one tenth as 



THE CURSE OF RUM. 143 

drunk. It is taking away their right to take the last 
dime from the drunkard which should go to purchase 
bread for their families. It is taking away their right to 
rob the wives and children of what is justly their own ; 
their bread, their clothing, their happy homes, and the 
companionship of a kind and sober husband and father ; 
robbing them of peace, happiness, and the sunshine of 
a beautiful and happy home. Taking away their right to 
make drunkards of young men who would otherwise be- 
come men of prominence, men of honor, filling high 
stations in life ; men who would become ornaments to so- 
ciety, and men of usefulness in the world. Taking away 
their right of dealing out death and destruction broadcast 
in our land, an article that is an invention sought out by 
wily men, and and sold by w r icked and unprincipled men, 
who care nothing for the welfare of the people or nation 
so long as their own selfish ends are attained. Taking 
away their right to hang a sign bearing the inscription 
"Saloon," and adding to the surroundings all the allure- 
ments to entice the innocence of youth into the snare of 
evil ; their dens are lighted brilliantly, decorated with 
polished mirrors and highly colored prisms, reflecting 
lights of a thousand different hues to lead the mind into 
the dazzling mists of vice. Yes, more than all this, it is 
taking away their right to keep dens that become a 
rendezvous where criminals graduate, where theft, 
burglary, robbery and murder are planned and often car- 
ried into execution. i; Vote against Rum," 



144 THE CURSE OF RUM. 

A number of years ago I was living in the town of 
Hastings, N. Y. Among my acquaintances there was a 
family of eleven persons, the husband and wife, and nine 
children. The two oldest being girls were cared for in a 
Christian-like manner and reared tenderly under a mother's 
love and a kind father's protection. They grew to 
womanhood, loved and respected by all who knew them. 
The boys being younger were reared under different cir- 
cumstances. The husband and father, at the time of 
advent of the second boy, had acquired the habit of spend- 
ing his evenings at a near-by hotel, and later on he in- 
dulged in the drinking habit, which grew upon him to that 
extent that he had nearly lost all control of his appetite 
for drink. At length he grew disagreeable in his actions, 
austere in his commands, and finally resorted to harsh 
means to bring his family into subjection to meet the ap- 
proval of his vicious disposition. Many a blow was 
showered upon his wife and children, who pleaded in vain 
for him to spare the torture of his cruel treatment ; with 
voices loving, soft and gentle, they w^ould oft plead for 
one more loving smile and soft caress. But no, alas ! the 
demon rum had done its work ; it had ruined their happi- 
ness forever. Imagine, dear reader, the pangs of that 
mother's broken heart. The husband who but a few short 
years before had led her to the altar, promising before 
God and man u to love, cherish and protect;" in whom 
she had placed implicit confidence, and confided to him 
the care and keeping of her heart, and joined her fortune 



THE CURSE OF RUM. 145 

with his ; had left her home and all its tender ties for the 
one she had learned to love and who had pledged an un- 
dying love and protection for her through life ; but now 
a traitor, a fiend in the form of man, he became a habitual 
drunkard, leaving his home at times on a drunken spiee, 
to be gone two and three weeks at a time, returning only 
to lavish abuse on his wife and children. The suffering 
of the family was beyond description. The large family 
of boys were at length grown to ungovernable size and a 
majority of them followed in their father's footsteps and 
became poor, miserable drunken wretches, scattered 
broadcast in the land, and a number of them are engaged 
in the liquor traffic and houses of ill repute. The mother 
and daughters were model Christian women. What pangs 
of torture and sorrow must that poor heart-broken mother 
and those loving sisters have suffered, no tongue can tell, 
no pen describe ; we must leave our readers to imagine. 
This is not an isolated case. There are thousands in the 
land as wretched as the above chronicled. We are sorry 
to record them, but they are true. 

An ordinance made necessary by the licensed saloons 
in Sacramento, Cal., makes it a misdemeanor for minors 
under sixteen years of age to be on the streets after a 
certain hour of the evening, unless accompanied by 
guardians or provided with a pass. When this appears 
in history a hundred years hence, the boys and girls who 
sit studying by the evening lamp will laugh at such 
stupidity, and say, " Why shut up the boys and girls and 
leave open the saloons ?" In one sense of the word, itis well 



146 THE CURSE OF RUM. 

the ordinance was passed, for it is well to keep the youth 
of our land away from temptation ; but would it not be 
better for a Christian people to refuse to license such 
dangerous places, forbidding the traffic altogether that 
threatens the ruin and downfall of our rising generation. 
There are hundreds of cities that are as reckless as the 
city of the golden State that do not take the pains to pass 
an ordinance to even protect the innocent youth. And 
yet we feel like singing in the words of poesy : 

I would not live in the city of gold, 

That is built on the golden sand, 
Where protection for youth and age is sold 

For the saloon on every hand. 
Nor would I exchange my country home 

For a home in the city on the golden rock, 
Where schools of vice and theft and murder 

Are taught in saloons in every block. 
No, give us a home where the fresh country air 

Has never been tainted with rum. 



CHAPTER IX. 



Why do Christian people submit to the wrongs that are 
inflicted upon the people of our own land? No doubt 
those people who clamor for aid for the poor heathen are 
sincere in their desire to make the poor heathen happy, 
and render them assistance by raising money and sending 
missionaries among them : but why should they approve of 
the licensing of saloons as a revenue to the nation and 
State, and then raise money by subscription for the pur- 
pose of converting the heathen from crime, while they are 
voting men in office who sanction the liquor traffic, which 
is the basis of universal crime. The liquor traffic is the 
platform upon which the thief, the burglar, the highway 
robber, the assassin and the murderer stand, and whoever 
aids or assists in the traffic by licensing or voting for 
officers who grant licenses is directly, or indirectly, aiding 
and abetting in the hellish traffic that leads men on to 
crime. And those who do not vote directly against the 
licensing of the sale of intoxicating drink are guilty of 
grossly neglecting their duty to themselves, their families, 



148 THE CURSE OF RUM. 

and the American people. There are many, very many, 
voters who seem willing to favor the cause of temperance, 
but will not vote the prohibition ticket for fear they will 
sever the ties that bind them to their party, yet many will 
admit they would vote the ticket were the party strong 
enough to elect their candidates, admitting the principle 
superior to the principles laid down in the platforms of 
either of the old parties. In such cases it looks to m>e as, 
if his Satanic majesty, "The Devil," was running upon 
one ticket, and the u Savior" should come upon earth and 
suffer his name to be run for office upon the opposite 
ticket, such men would vote with the floating crowd, and 
the Devil would be elected by a large majority. Such is 
the standing, in our opinion, of the principle of such 
voters. If you speak to them on the subject, they will 
only shake their heads and say, "Of the two evils choose 
the least," but our motto is, if there are two evils, let us 
throw them both aside and adopt a new policy ; if there are 
two lies that can be told, a big lie and a smaller one, let 
us shun the telling of either and adopt the truth, for 
though " truth may be crippled once, it will rise again," 
while error, though it be ever so great, will sink into insig- 
nificance beneath the blazing light of truth. Of course 
the rum power is a host to fight. What then must be 
done? Shall we drift along in the current of majority, 
or shall we recruit an army and meet the foe in open 
field? We answer, "Let us raise our banner of Freedom 
to the breeze, and beat the call for valiant soldiers ; open 



THE CURSE OF RUM. 149 

recruiting offices in every State, in every county, in every 
town, in every church, in every school-house, and in every 
dwelling-house in the land, and raise an army that dare 
face the music, and assist in putting down the enemy that 
is lurking in our land and slaying its thousands upon the 
back of thousands within the limits of our beloved 
America. Enlist men, enlist women, enlist children. 
They will learn to be soldiers, under training in the cause 
of liberty. 

" Ye rocks and stones break forth, 
Nor hold your peace, ye hills ; 
So long as the State for revenue gain 
The blood of her citizens spills." 

The Supreme Court of Georgia has decided that any 
drinking wines on the premises constitutes an illegal bar- 
room. We would add here, there have been many decis- 
ions made by high courts against the selling of liquors, 
under as many different circumstances, in many different 
places, only to be scoffed at by the saloon-keepers, and 
distillers, brewers and liquor dealers in general. The 
wealth of the whiskey monopoly is sufficient to fight such 
decisions and stave them off from time to time in the 
courts, until the thing is almdst forgotten through age, 
while the bar-rooms are open and sales going on, accu- 
mulating wealth to that extent, that should they be com- 
pelled to pay the costs in the end, they have amassed a 
fortune sufficient to do so, and have abundance left, while 
the drinkers' fortunes and hard-earned wages have footed 
the bills of the courts and rum-seller. And should the de- 



1 50 THE CURSE OF HUM. 

cision be rendered in favor of the saloon-keepers and 
dealers in general, the costs mnst be paid by whom ? By 
the tax-payer, the farmer, and those owning real estate, 
while the unfortunate consumers of the poisonous drink 
have spent their money, wasted their time in extravagance, 
ruined the happiness of their families and lowered them- 
selves into the depths of vice and shame. 

Voters and tax-payers, this is about the manner in 
which our matters in the courts have drifted. Many of 
tham are no better than no courts at all, and many of 
tham are not as well. In many cases, no doubt, the de- 
cisions rendered are well known to the whiskey ring as 
to which way they will be decided. And not only in our 
courts is the influence of the whiskey ring felt, but in our 
elections and in our halls of legislation, is the sting of the 
beast felt. O, for the dawn of the day of reform in our 
courts and legislative halls to break upon us. O, for a 
new light to dawn upon the brain of the American people. 
O, for the dawn of justice in our courts and honesty and 
reform in our legislators. O, for the dawn of a new Ugh* 
that shall spring up in the hearts of the American people, 
that they may see the ruinous gulf into which they are 
drifting through the deep worn channels of the whiskey 
element. Wake, ye drowsy sleepers, from the lethargy 
which hangs around you : let your energies become 
aroused ; shake off the slavish chains that so long have 
held you in thraldom under the yoke of the rum power. 
'Tis the curse of the citizen, the curse of society, and the 



THE CURSE OF RUM. 151 

curse of the nation, as well as the curse of the world, and 
it must be banished from our country and its supporters 
and adherents be educated to a standard of morality, or 
America must be dragged down to the ditch to them. 

O, for a light to shine once more 

Upon our native land, 
The light of freedom as of yore, 

Brought by the pilgrim band. 

We may read and we may talk of the dark ages, when 
Egypt held its slaves in bondage, of the Spartan wars, of 
the bloody war, carnage and devastation of Europe's 
famous kings and rulers, the rise and fall of the empires 
and kingdoms, the burning of John Rogers and others at 
the stake, the cruel murders committed by the ruthless 
hand holding the tomahawk and scalping knife, of the 
dark days of our own beloved America, when African 
slavery existed on its sacred soil, of the bloody war, car- 
nage and devastating sufferings the people underwent to 
drive the last vestige of tyranny from our land, and " the 
half has not been told." No, the few pilgrims who 
moored their bark on the wild and rugged coast of New 
England left their native land and homes of tyranny, op- 
pressed by the cruel hand of the oppressor, to obtain re- 
lief and freedom from the hand that ruled with a stern 
and unrelenting rod of despotism. Peace, quiet and 
safety was what they asked ; liberty and protection from 
the iron hand was what they sought ; free thought, free 
speech, free press ; a freedom to enjoy their religious be- 
lief and freedom to shape their actions according to what 



152 THE CURSE OF RUM. 

they considered was right in the sight of God, and their 
duty to God and their fellow man. They left their homes 
and many kindred friends, many endearing ties, their 
birth-place, and homes of their sunny childhood, to trav- 
erse the wild, tempestuous ocean, enduring great hard- 
ships and privations, in search of a home that they could 
enjoy in peace, quiet and safety from the grinding heel 
of tyranny and oppression, the rights of good citizens 
without fear of the dungeon, the rack or burning at the 
stake. They were intent on building a church, a state, a 
government upon a basis of equality where they might 
worship as well as dwell in peace, and undisturbed from 
the cares and perplexities of a wicked and perverse nation 
of tyrants, who persecuted in the most horrible manner, 
those who embraced the Christian faith in a manner they 
considered in accordance with the law of order, good taste 
and the will of God. On the 22d of July, 1620, the 
Pilgrim Fathers, under Brewster, leave Holland, and 
England the 6th of September in the Mayflower. Sight 
of land 7th of November, moor their craft in Cape Cod 
Harbor and adopt a constitution November 9th ; coast for 
a landing place ; repel an attack of Indians, and finally 
land at Plymouth Rock December 2 1 st, one hundred and 
one souls in all, one having been accidentally drowned. 
John Carver was elected Governor over the little colony ; 
they at once set out to build themselves homes in the for- 
ests of wild New England. The following winter was 
extremely severe, and one-half of the number perished from 



THE CURSE OF RUM. 153 

cold and hardship before spring. In March, 1621, the 
Pilgrims made a treaty of amity with the Pokanokets 
under Massasoit. Governor Carver dies April 5th, and 
William Bradford is elected Governor in his place. The 
Indians became restless soon after the treaty was made, 
and as the colony increased in numbers, their jealousy 
increased, and at length they became troublesome and 
began to harass the settlers, which the whites bore with 
remarkable fortitude. History tells of the long suffering 
during the first settlement of our country ; the many hard- 
ships the people endured ; of the many white men, women 
and children who fell victims to the barbarity of the red 
men of the forest, who, with the tomahawk and scalping 
knife, spared none ; the stalwart white man, the aged, the 
nnocent child on its mother's breast, as well as the help- 
less mother, fell alike victims to an unrelenting and bar- 
barious foe. All this and a thousand other hardships were 
suffered, but with untiring zeal, and a hope in a prospect 
of a brighter future they struggled on in their undertaking 
to secure a peaceful and happy home for themselves and 
their posterity, where they might enjoy their rights and 
their privileges of self rule, and their own mode of wor- 
ship without molestation. They established a government 
on a principle of self government ; a principle of reform ; . 
in other words, a government by the people and of them- 
selves. They sought a home in a far-off land, where 
every man was his own keeper, and every woman regarded 
with respect and equality, where they needed no protec- 



154 THE CURSE OF RUM. 

tion from slavish masters, and were not compelled to bow 
down and worship idols. They come with pure motives, 
with sole intent of enjoying future homes in a land 
of freedom, whose laws were equally made to govern all 
alike, the rich and poor, the black and white, the great 
and small, whose declarations of the people were: "All 
men were created equal, andendowed with certain inalien- 
able rights, where crime should be punishable by just 
laws, and should not go unpunished when proved guilty." 
After long and perilous hardships in a strange and wild 
country, a wilderness beset with ferocious beasts, and 
what was still more unpleasant and dangerous, the forests 
swarming with natives of a dangerous and barbarous na- 
ture, thus, the people strugged on between hope and 
fear; years of perplexity, cares and hardships, were en- 
dured by the people who risked their lives and staked their 
fortunes in their ventures to obtain homes in a country 
free from despotism, oppression and crime. At length 
the morning of the day of liberty dawned ; the years of 
hardship had passed, the fields were teeming with fruit, 
flowers and grain, the beautiful sunshine poured in upon 
our broad fields, the rain descended in copious showers, 
the wild beasts were subdued, and the wild and barbarous 
Indian had succumbed to the rulers of the precincts of 
civilization, or retired to the haunts of the hunting grounds 
in the far-off distance, to supply us with furs and robes 
to protect us from the northern winter's blast. Every- 
thing: moves on in accordance with the wishes of the 



THE CURSE OF RUM. 155 

people, the far-off country, the childhood home of the 
Pilgrim fathers and mothers, had reached out a helping 
hand during the struggle for protection against the barba- 
rous foe in the wilds of America. England, who had long 
since fostered an interest on the American Continent, at 
length began to grind the people with the heel of tyranny 
and oppression. Becoming jealous of her rival country 
she sought to cripple our commerce, arrest the wheels of 
progress, and drive the American people into subjection 
to the British crown. Our forefathers saw the dilemma 
in which the current was drawing them. Again they de- 
clared they were a free people, and they would maintain 
their freedom even at the point of the bayonet, or the 
roaring cannon's mouth. Hence the Revolutionary war of 
1776, that severed all ties of relationship and subjection 
to the crown of the British Lion. Seven years of war, 
pestilence and famine, hung like a dark cloud over the 
American people, but faithful to the cause of liberty, they 
struggled on, fought, bled and conquered. Thus once 
more the yoke of oppression and chains of tyranny were 
thrown from our people, and America stood upon a foun- 
dation in equality with nations of the world. They framed 
their own constitution, made their own laws, and made 
them just and wise ; they enacted laws to protect the 
people, and punish the criminal, the people themselves 
were their own rulers ; whatever the will of the people was 
the law of the land. Under laws of equality our country 
flourished and became a nation that was one of the best 



156 THE CURSE OF RUM. 

upon which the sun ever shone. Nations abroad looked 
upon us with wonder and admiration, acknowledging us to 
be one of the greatest nations of the globe. The eagle 
was placed upon the dome of our capitol as an emblem of 
liberty. Our laws were considered wise and judiciously 
executed, with the exception that the stigma of African 
slavery existed within our borders. But after years of 
suffering, carnage, devastation, and the sacrifice of thous- 
ands of lives in a bloody, inland war, slavery was wiped 
from our statutes, and the bird of liberty screamed in its 
wildest notes of ecstacy from every corner of the land, 
freedom for the white man, freedom for the colored man, 
freedom for all. The standard of liberty was fully estab- 
lished and firmly planted on American soil, the American 
eagle perched high upon its uppermost branches, while the 
flag of freedom from its lofty standard spread out its 
folds upon the gentle breeze to shade in sunshine and 
shelter in storm, all who claim protection beneath its 
sacred folds. Such was the victory achieved, for which 
many noble sons of freedom and lovers of liberty had laid 
down their lives upon the battle-field to purchase. Many 
of our forefathers, and many of our brothers and sons 
have fought, bled and died to purchase liberty for us 
to enjoy. Our lips cannot give utterance to our feelings 
as we pen these lines sacred to the memory of the heroes 
who have fallen martyrs to the cause of freedom. Many 
friends, many fathers, many mothers, many wives made 
widows, many oiphans have been left to mourn the loss 



THE CURSE OF RUM. 157 

of their loved ones, but alas ! there is no return. They 
laid their lives upon their country's altar, and have fallen 
a sacrifice to liberty. Now the question arises shall we 
maintain that liberty, that freedom which has cost so 
much? It has cost millions upon the back of millions in 
wealth, besides the severe tortures, and suffering and 
hardships, and what is more cruel, the loss of so many 
lives that have been, sacrificed to make this a great and 
glorious nation, and its citizens a free and happy people. 
The question is left with the people to decide. But before 
a decision is rendered let us look carefully into the face of 
the facts of the case and see how stands the matter of 
freedom vs. tyranny? Our country maybe all right, but 
how about its people ? Is that freedom, that liberty, for 
which so many noble sons have laid down their lives, en- 
joyed by the people? We answer, no ! The rum power, 
the whiskey monopoly, the wine makers and grape growers' 
association, and themalters , and brewers' combination has 
grown to that strength and extent, that it has become a 
mighty host and tyranical power in our government, and 
in enacting and executing our laws. The people have but 
little to say in regard to making and enforcing the laws, 
save in an indirect way. Of course, we must admit that 
the drinker of ardent spirits has quite a little to do in the 
matter of making laws, for with the manufacturer and 
rum-seller they are silent partners, and the company's 
charter is not limited either. The company does the busi- 
ness, and, the responsibility not being limited, the silent 



158 THE CURSE OF RUM. 

partner pays the liabilities, and thus the drinks contrib- 
ute the funds to run the government and the rumseller 
and manufacturer have th eir own way to run the govern- 
ment, and the drinker settles the whole bill without one 
word to say in the matter of government. Thus the 
drinker is held by the fascinating cords of the rum-seller's 
influence to pay the cost of legislating in favor of high 
license, and then pay the extra rise on the article itself in 
consequence of the high tariff for settling. That is not 
all, the wives and children of the rum and beer drinker 
become silent partners in the scheme, their husbands and 
fathers spend their last nickel or dime in contributing to 
the whisky ring, robbing their families of what is justly 
their own, and the}' have nothing to say. They too are 
silent partners, with their business entrusted to their 
husbands as their agents, who squander what belongs to 
them, leaving them to starve, and yet they have no voice 
in making our laws, but pay dearly for them, that their 
means of support has gone to help the rum power euact, 
besides bringing the drinking husband and father to a 
drunkard's grave and their families to pauperism. How 
do you like the unlimited company you belong to, who 
leaves you responsible for the liabilities, and yet a silent 
partner, no voice in the matter whatever. Do you ever 
think of this, you who drink? Do you ever think that 
you are supporting the rum-seller, with his fine clothes 
on, his soft white hands, upon which glistens the diamond 
ring which you have bought with your hard earned wages, 



THE CURSE OF RUM. 159 

and then do you think of the wife and children at your 
own home, without a second dress for a change or shoes 
for their feet, and scarcely bread to keep the wolf from 
the door. "Will you be a silent partner in an unlimited 
company any longer? Will you compel your wife and 
children to be silent partners in such a company, who 
cares nothing for your welfare, nothing for the welfare 
of the tender and loved ones of your home, cares nothing 
for the welfare of the nation to which you help make up, 
if only their design is accomplished, their own selfish end 
is secured, and their coffers well filled with the earnings 
of the workingmen, women and children. Will you do it? 
Did you ever think of this before dear reader? If not, 
think of it now, now is the time. Now ! you cannot go 
back to the past, for the past can never be recalled. Wait 
not for a more convenient season, now is the time. We 
repeat it, did you ever think over the matter? That, 
being a drinker of ardent spirits, you become a silent 
partner in the business. Now stop right here and con- 
sider what the business amounts to that you have become 
a silent partner in, without authority to say one word in 
connection with running the business, only as fast as you 
get a dime, or even a nickel, you must pay your dues, or 
you are no longer a partner, and yet you have no voice. 
The business amounts to just this : It makes the rum- 
seller rich, the rum drinker poor ; it supports the rum- 
seller's family in luxury, the rum drinker's family in 
poverty ; it puts fine clothes on the backs of rum-seller's 



160 THE CURSE OF RUM. 

wife and children, rags on those of the drinker ; it gives 
the rum-seller's family a fine house wherein to dwell, the 
drinker's family a shanty ; it causes more crime and sup- 
ports it than all other known sources ; it causes insanity, 
and fills our county houses with paupers ; it builds distil- 
leries and breweries for the rich manufacturers, and the 
poor unfortunate drinker pays for them ; in fact, to use 
the vulgar expression, it makes galoots of nearly all who 
make, buy, sell or use the burning compound, and 
burning it is. It burns the clothes from the backs of the 
drinker and his family, and it burns the stomach, the 
system, the body and soul. It also makes thousands of 
homes desolate and destitute ; it takes the bright smiles 
that once hung around promiscuously upon the faces of 
family ; the father, the mother, the children's faces are all 
devoid of the sunny smiles that once glowed with happi- 
ness and contentment ; it fills the world with dishonorable 
actions and the people with discontent ; it stops not alone 
at the cabin or cottage, but often fills the mansion with 
discontent, and the hearts of its inmates with gloom and 
sadness. Brawls and disturbances are bred through its 
influence ; it is a constant companion of the rioter. What 
idea can any fair minded man form than to acknowledge 
that he is as well a silent partner to crime as well as to 
the whisky ring, when he does not cease to support the 
traffic wherein there lies so much evil and is the parent 
to all crime. Five hundred and ten millions of dollars 
pays for bread which the fifty millions of people in the 



THE CURSE OF RUM. 161 

United States consume in one year, while the drink ex- 
pense of the same people for the same length of time, 
amounts to nine hundred and seventy-six millions of 
dollars, and will be the result if there is no change in the 
program of the rum traffic, for by a careful estimate dur- 
ing the next twenty-five years the population on this 
continent will amount to one hundred million, and at 
the close of a century from now, there will be at least 
three hundred million people in the United States. Let 
me ask what is to be the character of that population ? 

You cannot shirk the responsibility, nor can I shirk it. 
Columbus, two hours before midnight, said to Pedro Gu- 
tierrez : " Look, look! See the light on the shore ; that 
must be a continent ! " He saw his greatest hopes were 
about to be realized, he saw the dawn of a new era in the 
glory of a living name, his great anxiety for fame was 
about to be realized ; then the greatest spark of his ambi- 
tion was kindled into a flame that spread lustre about him, 
giving him a name that shall live in the hearts of the 
American people while the American continent shall exist. 
Oh ! that some Columbus might arise to foretell the dawn 
of a new era in the history of the American people. 
There must be lights placed along the shore or the ship of 
State must eventually strand on the rocks of intemperance. 
Our government is in a quandary over the liquor question ; 
one class of its people seems to be trying to barricade the 
traffic by a high license law, while another would be satis- 
fied with the trade on a free basis, while a third section 



THE CUKSE OF PvOI. 

wishes the manufacture and sale of the abominable, hell- 
-1. damnable stuff banished from our institutions alto- 
gether, that our country may be rid of the basis and foun- 
;on of universal crime and our statutes be untarnished, 
unstained and unspotted by the sanction of the sale of the 
unholy poison in our land. Tis a blot upon oar good 
nnn: is a blot upon the fame of the boasted 

•* free America. " 



CHAPTER X. 



Now comes the struggle for freedom. Which shall win, 
right or wrong ? The standard of truth and justice is 
planted on American soil. Shall it take root and grow, 
or shall it be smothered by the seeds of dissension and 
rum, the curse of the world? There are two sides to the 
question — right or wrong, home or hotel, school-house or 
saloon, liberty or despotism, freedom or slavery, drunken- 
ness or sobriety, life or death. Which will you choose ? 
Make your choice to-day. O, friends, let your brain be 
unmuddled by rum, and make your choice to-day ; assist 
to cultivate the standard of liberty, truth and justice, and 
hoist the flag of freedom to its highest pinnacle in behalf 
of suffering humanity, and trample the standard of error 
and crime beneath your feet. Put it down, down ! trail- 
ing in the dust never to rise again. Let the glorious sun- 
shine of peace and prosperity of a sober people fill the 
hearts of the nation, and show to nations abroad that the 
people of America are in earnest concerning the welfare 
of their country and the interest of the whole people, and 



164 THE CURSE OF RUM. 

also that they mean the banishment of the last vestige of 
intoxicating drink from our soil, and that those who have 
left their homes across the seas and embarked in the 
liquor business shall find some other employment more 
respectable, or return to their native land and deal out the 
fluid poison to their own countrymen in their native cli- 
mate, where they were endowed with the principle of sell- 
ing that which does no one any good, but many much 
harm, for we find in viewing the statistics that nine-tenths 
of the licenses granted in the United States are held by 
foreigners, and we do not hold them morally responsible, 
any more than the officers who grant the licenses ; and 
still there is another class in existence who are far more 
responsible in a moral sense than either of the former. 
That class is the Christian people, of any or all parties, 
who elect men to office who favor the manufacture or sale 
of intoxicating drink in any form and then retire to their 
homes and offer up long and eloquent prayers for the 
cause of temperance and those who are the sufferers from 
the effects of rum. Such milk-and-water temperance peo- 
ple as these would freeze up in July, only for the barrel 
of cider or demijohn of whiskey in their cellar to keep up 
the fever heat in the circulation of their actions. Alto- 
gether too thin ! Yote as you pray, or else drop one or the 
other. Be honest, and show your colors ; be a man or a 
monkey ; either a friend or a foe. Which side are you 
on ? If you are not certain, open your Bible and read 
these words : " Woe unto him that putteth the cup to his 
neighbor's lips and maketh him drunken also." Read and 
reflect. 



THE CURSE OF RUM. 165 

We shall now enter into the summing up how matters 
stand in relation to the number of licenses granted in the 
United States, the nationality of the holders, the standard 
of their characters, their sex, etc. ; also the number of 
State prisons, penitentiaries, county prisons, insane asy- 
lums, poor-houses, the number of convicts, inmates of 
asylums, and paupers ; also the cost of building the pris- 
ons, asylums and poor-houses, and the cost to maintain 
the occupants, the cost of the criminal courts, besides the 
suffering that cannot be computed by numbers. In New 
York State and county prisons the number of convicts and 
inmates, sentenced and awaiting sentence, now exceeds 
eight thousand. The cost of keeping eight thousand for 
board alone for one year, at three dollars a week, amounts 
to one million, two hundred and forty-eight thousand dol- 
lars. TTe will say nothing of clothing furnished ; but an 
estimation of the cost in the courts of trying each criminal 
at the paltry sum of thirty dollars each amounts to but a 
trifle less than a quarter of a million, and one million is a 
light estimate for paying the officials and under-officers 
who superintend these prisons. Footing up, we find two 
and a quarter millions expended, besides incidental ex- 
penses for preliminaries and postponements of trials, to 
which there seems no end, and nine cases out of every 
ten can be cited back to their commission of crime while 
the perpetrators were under the influence of liquor. 

Besides the two and a quarter millions expended in New 
York State, outside of the cities of New York and Brook- 



166 the ctkse or bum. 

lyn, caring for the criminal branch, there comes on the list 
the insane and the paupers, which costs the people nearly 
two millions more. F imhling. 

If you have been voting in favor of selling strong drink, 
stop your fault-finding, for you have helped the business 
on that is a curse to the nation, to our whole people, a 
curse to society, a curse to individuals, a curse to the tax- 
payer, and above all, a curse to the drinker and his family, 
and you. voters and taxpayers, must pay the bill. Then, 
in addition to the four and a quarter millions annually for 
you to pay, look at the enormous expenditure and cost of 
building our State prisons, county jails, asylums and coun- 
ty poor-houses : and we have not taken into consideration 
the paying of the keepers of the asylums and poor-houses, 
who have all got to be paid from the taxes collected from 
your hard earnings, while by the sweat of thy face thou 
shalt eat ad. But let me say to you, work on, toil 

on ! the taxes must be paid, and you must pay them ; if 
you would make the burden lighter, you must throw it 
from your own shoulders by your ballots. Many of our 
tax-payers never even stop to consider the cause of the 
heavy drainage upon them by way of taxes, and yet they 
upon themselves, not because they are drunk- 
ards, but because they like the privilege of taking " a lit- 
tle suthin " on a cold day. or on a hot day, or on a stormy 
day. or when the day arrives to wash sheep, when they 
send the hired man in: : iter to wash the sheep. So 

it is with many. They claim as an excuse, a little once 



THE CURSE OF RUM. 167 

in a while does them a little good, forgetting that in vot- 
ing for license for the sake of getting that little, they help 
to set it before thousands who will not be satisfied with a 
little, but indulge in its constant use and abuse, whereby 
they ruin themselves and their families, and bring their 
families to poverty, want and beggary ; they at last be- 
come subjects of charity and the poor-house, hence the 
tax-payer must suffer the penalty of his transgression by 
helping to foot the bill. And then, when we take into con- 
sideration the enormous amount of ninety-six millions of 
dollars that is paid out for strong drink in one year in the 
State of New York, is it at all strange that there is so 
much drunkenness, misery, want, poverty and crime, 
which comes in addition to the heavy taxes to foot the 
bill. Who foots it ? The tax-payer. Then grumble. 
The State of Pennsylvania is not far behind the Empire 
State. The liquor bill of the Keystone State amounts to 
seventy-eight million dollars, besides what the moonshiners 
smuggle into the market, which, if I am correctly informed, 
is no small amount. Ohio and Michigan come next in 
rank in the liquor traffic, as well as in furnishing crimi- 
nals, convicts, and subjects for the gallows, for its office 
work. They, too, furnish their portion of lunatics and 
paupers, which, as a matter of course, their support must 
be paid out of the taxes collected from those owning and 
holding real estate, and those mainly the voting class, 
such as farmers and mechanics, many of whom are own- 
ers and are paying taxes on farms and city property heav- 



168 THE CURSE O^ RUM. 

ily mortgaged. The burden of taxes, or majority of them, 
falls heavily upon the farmers, while their votes, in addi- 
tion to the wild and floating vote of the city rummies, car- 
ries the elections in favor of the rum traffic and leaves the 
tax-payer to settle the cost out of his hard-bought wealth, 
and the politician will laugh in his sleeve and say, " What 
short-sighted idiots the tax-payers are ; they vote away 
their wealth, vote away their hard-earned money that 
should be treasured up for old age, when the elasticity of 
the limbs is gone and with faltering step the aged are tot- 
tering upon the brink of their departure." Why! can't 
you see, dear reader, when the case is so plain a one, that 
when you vote for license you vote for that which leads to 
crime and supports it in its every phase. In my opinion, 
we may as well license crime as to license that which leads 
directly to it. For behold ! when we vote for a license to 
sell intoxicating drink we are putting the cup to our neigh- 
bor's lips to make him drunk, and when he is drunk he 
becomes reckless and dashes headlong into violations of 
the law, which is a crime either of a high or low order. 
" 'But, like misers' gold, when death draws on apace ; 

Like lovers' kiss, when parting is at hand; 
Like yearning looks that seek a loved one's face, 

As ebbs the last of life's retreating sand — ' 
So clings the drunkard to the poisoned bowl, 

And waits some some fairy children to break the spell, 
But waits too long ; at length his ruined soul 

Sinks down to ruin and a burning hell." 

So it is with the moderate drinker, waiting for a better 
time to leave off taking a social glass with his friends ; 



THE CURSE OF RUM. 169 

but friends flock around him, and they all indulge in a 
social glass, one after another. At length the party be- 
comes merry ; in other words they become drunk, and 
another golden opportunity of reforming has passed, 
never to be recalled. From one step to another they are 
drawn into the stream, the current is accelerated, the vor- 
tex of ruin is neared, the thundering of its mighty waters 
is heard, but alas! too late. There is no retreat ; the 
gulf is in sight, but down, down, they are plunged into 
the everlasting abyss of ruin. They have met the in- 
evitable fate of the moderate drinking drunkard, the tur- 
bid waters have buried them in disgrace, and they leave 
the tarnished name of a drunkard, as a legacy to their 
friends, family and kindred. Voters, you are in the same 
boat. If you are not drinking the poison yourselves, you 
are voting to set it up before others. For whom are you 
paving the downward road to drunkenness. You cannot 
find a convenient time for separating yourselves from the 
corrupt party to which you have belonged ; they are a 
strong party ; you have waited for the time to come, but 
waited in vain. There is no time like the golden now. 
If there is any light in you let it shine forth before the 
world. Though you stand alone others will see the light 
you hold up, and hasten' to flock around it, coming out 
from the darkness into light. Did you ever sit at an open 
window in the dusk of evening when every leaf was at rest, 
when the busy cares of the day were thrown aside, when 
the cattle upon the hillsides had laid down to their rest, 



170 THE CURSE OF RUM. 

and the hum of the busy bee was stilled, and watch with 
care the comparative stillness of the night? Not a sign 
of any living creature met your view, not the flutter of a 
wing. The unlighted lamp stands upon the table near you. 
You hear the light footstep of that loving wife or daugh- 
ter. Behold, she comes with matches in her hands, and 
lights the lamp. There is light ; quick as thought around 
that lamp, flutter thousands of insects ; they have seen 
the light and hasten out of darkness. The moral — "Em- 
brace the light and hold it up to the world, and thousands 
will flock to your assistance." Hold up your light to the 
rescue of ethers. Some poor doubting wayfarer may per- 
chance be seeking light, and like many thousands be 
groping their way in the dark rut of partisanship, only 
waiting for some one to hold up the light while they are 
ready to embrace it. If the smallest, the most insignifi- 
cant insect at the first gleam of light is ready to embrace 
it, why should not man, the most noble of God's work, 
fly to the light when held up to them? TTe will admit 
there are reasons why, or excuses that people may make, 
but none based upon a solid foundation. Some see the 
light and will not embrace it because their deeds are dark 
and they prefer dark places to conceal them. Others see 
the light and think they will embrace it in the future, but 
the time has not quite yet arrived. They think they see 
in the near future some place of honor awaiting them. 
Perhaps some lucrative office in their imagination looms 
up before them, and not until they have met with the re- 



THE CURSE OF RUM. 171 

verse of disappointment will they turn away from the 
illusion. Again, others cling like the drowning man to a 
straw, to party name, regardless of the fact of their igno- 
rance as to political economy, while very many look upon 
any source of wealth as an object to be sought for, regard- 
less of the consequences, while a few may err in judgment 
as to what course to pursue in order to relieve the coun- 
try of the accursed tyrant, "mm," that holds the people 
in the iron chains of death, and our nation in bondage. 
Friends to humanity, there is but one way ; the way is to 
seize upon the opportunity of the golden now, and join 
the army of temperance reform and fight rum in its strong- 
holds through the means we have in our own hands, " the 
ballot," tear away from party prejudice and strike for the 
new world, a world of light, a world of peace, a world of 
happiness. Linger not beneath the dark clouds of misery, 
want and woe. 

THE GOLDEN NOW. 

If you a rich harvest would reap at last, 
Wait not to sow till the seed-time's past. 
Now is the time ; thrust in the plow : 
Now is the time the Golden Now, 

Strike, swordsman, strike ! 'tis seed-time now ; 
Scatter your seed, put in your plow ; 
The seed-time will not always last ; 
Scatter your seed ere the seed-time's past. 

Strike, blacksmith, strike ! while the iron is hot. 
The hours fly swift though "you heed them not." 
'Tis time to bring your plans about, 
Ere the iron is cold, and the fire goes out. 



172 THE CURSE OP RUM. 

Strike, musician, strike ! if you would play 

The sweetest cords of melody 

That pour forth like the breath of June ; 

Strike while the harp's in sweetest tune. 

Strike, swordsman, strike ! there's no time to waste, 

The foe approaches you in haste ; 

Strike, swordsman, ere your strength is spent, 

And the sabre through your heart is sent. 

Strike, seaman, strike ! ere the the furious blast 

Has torn the canvas from the mast ; 

Strike, seaman, strike ! ere the angry waves 

Have buried you in watery graves. 

Strike, oarsman, strike ! ere your little boat 

Shall spring a leak and cease to float ; 

Strike, boatman, strike ! bend to your oar, 

Ere your boat goes down far out from the shore. 

Strike, reapers, strike ! the ripening grain 

Cries with shrill voice for valiant men ; 

Seed-time is past, put in the plow, 

Thrust in your sharpened sickle *now. 

Strike ! all you who in sorrow toil, 

Strike ! old and young, sons of the soil ; 

Strike ! rich and poor ; strike ! bond and free, 

Strike ! all ; strike now ! for liberty. 

Strike ! all ye toilers of the earth ; 

Strike now for freedom; give joy new birth. 

Let the news go forth over land and sea, 

Our banner waves ; our land is free. 



*"I am not singing the 'Sweet By and By,' but the 'Sweet Now and Now.' ' 
—Sam Jones. 



CHAPTER XI. 



The murder of the Rev. G. C. Haddock, Sioux City, 
Iowa, March, 1887, may be to the cause of Prohibition 
what Owen Lovejoy's murder was to abolition of slavery, 
viz : A joint taken from the backbone of its strength. 
John Arnsdorf and ten others were charged with the mur- 
der of Mr. Haddock. Their names are as follows : John 
Arnsdorf, the brewer ; Paul Leader, Fred Murchrath, Jr., 
H. L. Sherman, Henry Peters, George Treiber, Louis 
Plath, the brewery driver ; H. L. Leavitt, Albert Kosh- 
nitzki, alias, " Bisinark ;" Sylvester Grande, alias, 
''Steamboat Charley ;" Peters, Treiber and Plath fled 
from the city soon after the murder, and are still fugitives. 
Koshnitzki, Leavitt and Grande also absconded, but were 
arrested and brought back. All confessed, and all named 
Arnsdorf as the one who killed Dr. Haddock. 

The murder of Rev. George C. Haddock, Pastor of the 
Methodist Church of Sioux City, made him a martyr, and 
the temperance crusade was considered from that moment 
a righteous cause. The crime was to Prohibition what the 



174 THE CURSE OF RUM. 

assassination of Love joy was to abolition in 1856. The 
Sioux City pastor's contention was for the vindication of 
the law, he being at the time actively engaged in getting 
evidence against the saloon-keepers. Sioux City, with its 
twenty thousand inhabitants, was considered the most 
lawless of any in Iowa, and men had flocked there with 
no other intention than of being better intrenched in their 
nefarious business of liquor selling, than they would be 
anywhere else. The first commercial industry of the city 
was whisky selling. Probably no State in the Union has 
such a rigorous enforcing clause as that in the Prohibitory 
statute of Iowa. Anyone, even a stranger, can file in- 
formation against a saloon and the court is required to 
issue an injunction against that saloon. The Prohibition- 
ists had been working at a disadvantage, because few men 
would engage in the business of informing, and the organ- 
ization was obliged to depend upon the women. When 
the Rev. George C. Haddock heard of this, he immediately 
wrote to the League that he would enter the field as in- 
former. Haddock was fifty-eight years old, and rough 
knocks had made him an athlete, and he was fearless as a 
lion. He had taken active part in the Prohibition fight in 
Wisconsin, and was once assaulted there by a mob and 
left in the street terribly wounded. He afterwards spoke 
again in the same place and defied his assailants, but was 
unmolested. He was deposed from his pulpit at Fort 
Dodge, Iowa, in supporting Cleveland for President, and 
he then went to Sioux City. When he entered upon the 



THE CURSE OF RUM. 175 

work of informing against saloons he alarmed the dealers 
by his vigorous work, and the number of informations filed 
was soon double what it had been. He was threatened, 
but he went ahead without flinching. 

Dr. Haddock was killed on the night of August 3d, on 
a street corner in Sioux City, about two blocks from Jung's 
saloon, where it is alleged the ten men met and formed 
the conspiracy to take his life. It was near where the 
Doctor kept his horse. He had been riding that evening 
and having put up his horse he started for his home. On 
the corner in the shadow of a high fence that surrounded 
a vacant lot, were the men to compass his assassination. 
The names are given above of those who met the Doctor 
and committed the deed. Doctor Haddock turned the 
corner into the murderous ambush. Arnsdorf put his hand 
in his pocket and walked out to meet the Doctor. He 
stepped to the left side of the minister, but Haddock was 
on the alert and turned suddenly. At that instant there 
was the sharp crack of a pistol shot, and with a groan 
the Doctor fell to the pavement. The ball had entered 
back of and just below the right ear. Haddock died 
almost instantly. Harry L. Leavitt, one of the men 
jointly indicted with him for the murder, confessed that 
he saw Arnsdorf fire the fatal shot. The jury, however, 
rendered a verdict of acquittal as to all the persons ac- 
cused. A whisky-bought jury will convict or acquit ac- 
cording as instructed, any criminal, no matter of what 
magnitude the crime may be, whether proved guilty or 
innocent. 



THE CTKSE OF RT~>I. 

My God, has our country come to this ? An enlightened 
land, a Eepublican form of government. What ! A land 
of churches and a Christian people. Men and women 
who pray long, loud and earnestly for God and the 
Savior of the world, and upon which hangs the salvation 
of your eternal lives, to send the influence of His holy 
spirit from His heavenly courts to drive the sin-cursed 
stain of rum from our own fair land. Will you, will you, 
vote with the old parties, who are striving to barricade the 
liquor traffic to that degree that no legislative body can 
disturb or prohibits ? Wliat care you for old party 
schemes, when the liberty of our country, the freedom of 
our nation, and the welfare, peace and happiness of our 
families and the future generations are at stake? 

THE DEMON OF WOE. 

" There's a terrible demon larking around, 

And he scatters abroad the seeds of death ; 
And millions of slaves in thralldom bound, 

Crazed with the fumes of his poisoned breath ; 
For the demon laughs while his victims rave, 

'Ere he tumbles their carcasses into the grave. 

"In the dens of pollution, dishonor and shame, 
The madhouse, the almshouse, the pesthouse, the jail, 

Myriads are rotting — have bartered their name, 
And sold to the demon both body and soul ; 

And even in mansions of splendor sublime, 
He revels in glee mid corruption and crime. 

"He plucks from the cheek of fair beauty the rose, 
And he mildews the heart that was good ; 



THE CURSE OF RUM. 177 

Where peace once was smiling there's discord and woes, 

Want, destruction, and rapine and shedding of blood; 
Though array'd in the city in glitter and glare, 

To poor orphans he brings the sad wail of despair. 
" He roams far out on the trackless main, 

And spreads death and calamity there ; 
He fires with madness the captain's brain, 

Then down goes the ship amid black despair ; 
And the mariners brave in oblivion sleep, 

And their white bones lie on the bed of the deep. 
" Thousands are prostrate and bound by his spell, 

And grief to the depths of affliction is stirred, 
Beauty, manhood, learning and valor have fell, 

And the ravings of madness around us are heard ; 
And the terrible monster whose deeds thus appal, 

Is the demon of hell, called alcohol ! " 

At Dayton, Ohio, George Zeigler, a middle-aged man, 
on the offer of one Alexander, attempted to drink all the 
whisky the latter could pay for. Zeigler took twenty-two 
drinks in a comparatively short time, from the effect of 
which he died in a few hours. Thus there are many, very 
many who die in the same condition, leaving 

a drunkard's will. 

I die a wretched sinner, and I leave to the world a 
worthless reputation, a wicked example, and a memory 
that is only fit to perish. I leave to my parents, sorrow 
and bitterness of soul all the days of their lives. I leave 
to my brothers and sisters, shame and grief and the re- 
proach of their acquaintances. I leave my wife a widow- 
ed and broken heart, and a life of lonely struggling with 



178 THE CURSE OF RUM. 

want and suffering. I leave to my children a tainted 
name, a ruined position, a pitiful ignorance, and the mor- 
tifying recollection of a father who, by his life, disgraced 
humanity, and at his premature death, joined the great 
company of those who are never to enter the kingdom of 
peace and restfulness. 

Christian people, when you kneel, don't forget to pray 
for God to speed the temperance ball, then vote that way. 

they're good fellows, only they drink/' 

" Upon the dark sea of intemperance 

How many sad wrecks we deplore ; 
Our barks that from energy's harbor, 

The hopes of futurity bore. 
How many a shallop of promise 

Has gone to that terrible brink ; 
How often we hear the expression, 

1 They're good fellows, only they drink.' 

" I know a young man — perhaps you do, 

A young man of family and pride, 
Who now and then loses his balance, 

And leans to the staggery side. 
Society knows his offenses, 

But at them bemgnantly winks, 
And says in a whisper of pity, 

* He's a good fellow, only he drinks.' 

M Of course she will have to renounce him, 

Her duty is pointed, though sad; 
But then she will always feel sorry 

To see him go on ■ to the bad.' 
She always will mourn for his downfall, 

As lower andiower he sinks, 



THE CURSE OF RUM. J 79 

And say with expressive emotion, 

1 He's a good fellow, only he drinks. ' 

"Just glance at the topers around you, 

And see if you cannot descry 
Among them a few who were moulded 

For something more noble and high. 
To speak to your neighbors about them, 

They'll tell you at once what they think, 
'We're sorry for Joe and for Harry, 

They're nice fellows, only they drink.' 

" Alas ! for our best and our bravest, 

The snare of the tempter is wide, 
And many will fall who are gifted 

By nature to govern and guide. 
The agents of darkness are near us, 

With hearts that are blacker than ink, 
Forever enticing and luring, 

Our ' good fellows ' downward to drink. 

" Then let me implore you, my brothers, 

To take a more resolute stand ; 
' Tis time we were striving in earnest 

To banish this curse from our land. 
O let us be bold in this warfare, 

Nor from our great principles shrink, 
Till rum is forever abolished, 

And none of our ' good fellows drink.' " 



CHAPTER XII. 



There was a time in the history of our beloved America 
when the office of the man chosen by the people to frame 
our laws and execute them, sought the man to fill the 
place. Men who felt themselves unfit or incompetent 
to perform their tasks with the ability to fill a place of 
trust in a wise and judicious manner, declined with honor 
to accept the position tendered them. Time has brought 
a change. The office no longer seeks the man to take the 
highest position in State and nation, but men, from the 
highest to the lowest grade in society, are garbling over 
the places to fill, regardless of their fitness to enact or 
administer the laws to govern the whole people. Salaries 
have been raised ridiculously high, hence a scramble for 
the office, and the race is run with slang, money and cor- 
ruption. Many have their price without regard to honor, 
justice, liberty or the shame that ever hangs around the 
traitor. They will barter away the rights of their constit- 
uents, and sell into thraldom the rights and liberty of the 
the whole people. 



THE CURSE OF RUM. 181 

Readers of this work, let rne say to you, we want men 
to fill our halls of legislation and the benches of our judi- 
cial courts, as well as our offices of execution, who will 
not trample upon the rights of the laboring class and 
favor the greedy millionaire. "We want men who will 
stand firm to the principles laid down in the platform upon 
which they are elected ; men who cannot be swayed from 
principle by the influence of corrupt gold. We want 
brave men ; men who dare to battle with opposition, when 
opposition is corrupt. We want men who dare mount the 
war-horse and ride to fame, to glory, to liberty or to death ; 
men who will move on in one massive column, like the 
sweeping waters of the mighty river that cannot be held 
in check. Then we may look for victory, and victory 
once achieved, our country is safe. What if every saloon 
in the United States, and every other place where liquor 
is sold or given away for drinking purposes, could be 
closed and kept closed for one year, can any man estimate 
the advantage that would result both to the laboring men 
and the capitalists? The closing up of these drinking 
holes would be a saving to the laboring men of this coun- 
try of not less than $500,000,000 every year, for that is 
the amount, according to the most reliable statistics, the 
laboring men spend annually for intoxicating drinks. The 
saving of this $500,000,000 to the laboring men would 
certainly greatly improve the condition of the men and 
their families. It would not only relieve them from the 
physical and moral effects caused by drink and drunken- 



182 • THE CURSE OF RUM. 

ness, but it would add to their homes many of the com- 
forts and conveniences of which they are now deprived. 
It would give them more wholesome food, better clothes, 
and good homes, instead of hovels, to live in. The effect 
on capitalists and manufacturers would be equally relieved 
Stagnation in trade would give way to activity. Idle 
capital, which has for so long a time been stored away in 
bank vaults, would find investment. Prices of labor and 
the products would be improved. 

The following is a document laid down in a medical 
work written by John C. Gunn, M. D., author of 
" Gunn's Domestic Medicine. " 

" Children take more of the mental constitution and tem- 
perament of the father than of the mother. And that the 
physical constitution is derived from, or controlled almost 
exclusively by, the mother, appears, from close observation, 
to be fully evident. Hence, we may properly reason, and 
I, from a long experience in practice, know it to be true, 
that if a father be dull, heavy and stupid habitually, from 
the effects of liquor, or even at the time of generation, the 
child will partake of his mental temperament to a greater 
or less degree. I will here quote one or two facts in elu- 
cidation of my opinion. Some years ago I was the 
attending physician of a gentleman in Virginia, who oc- 
cupied a distinguished office [under the government, was 
highly respected, and belonged, as a common phrase 
expresses it, to ' one of the first families of Virginia.' He 
married a lady of twenty-two years of age, inheriting from 




DILAPIDATED HOME RUINED. ASYLUM MOTHER ENTERS. 



Listen while I plead for the disconsolate mother who is now entering the 
home of the lunatic, the hapless orphan, and the broken hearted and distracted 
wife. I come with tears of distracted love, and the anguish of the wounded 
heart, pleading in behalf of suffering virtue abandoned for revel and riot. 
This bad habit is distinguished from all others by the ravages it makes on the 
reason, faculties and intellect. Multitudes of people are bereft of half their in- 
tellectual energy, by indulgence in the drinking habit, and thousands of wives 
and mothers are driven to insanity by cruel treatment caused by the intoxicat- 
ing cup. It devours and wastes the vitality of the most powerful; and de- 
thrones the reason of thousands. Never drink it, and it never will harm you! 
There's poison in the flowing bowl ; there's danger in the rnm-cask ! Death and 
destruction follow closelv in their wake ! "Touch it not !" 



TKE CURSE OF RUM. 1 83 

both her parents a most vigorous constitution, combined 
with great personal beauty, bat dull mental temperament. 
Her husband was thirteen years her senior, and also 
blessed with perfect health, and possessed all the quali- 
fications of a gentleman, save one, sobriety ; for he was 
a periodical drunkard. This propensity he inherited 
from his father. His ungovernable thirst for alcoholic 
stimulants, or monomania, (for in truth it might be called 
such,) generally occurred every nine months, and the ap- 
proach of this peculiar susceptibility usually produced a 
most depressed state of mind. How often has he ex- 
claimed, as strongly impressed with the belief that the 
result would be fatal, ; Worlds would I give, if I possessed 
them, if I could get rid of this influence — this morbid 
thirst for liquor — this poison of hell ; but, alas ! I have 
no power to resist it.' Overcome by this instinctive im- 
pulse of the mind, he would take his jug of whiskey to 
his room and there drink to excess, until a general exhaus- 
tion of the whole nervous system took place, or until 
delirium tremens was the consequence. I have seen him 
suffer frequently in the convulsive spasms until the pers- 
piration would start from every pore, until nature was 
overcome by these terrible paroxysms, and the enfeebled 
sufferer sink into madness from a diseased state of the 
brain. It was not uncommon of him to solict restraint 
on perceiving a tendency to the recurrence of such a 
mania, rather than to expose those he loved to the risk of 
being injured. A breath of air, or a ray of sunlight, a 



184 THE CURSE OF RUM. 

motion, a sound, or the sight of any object, would excite 
the fiercest convulsions. How often I have heard him 
make the most solemn promises to his wife of entire ref- 
ormation. Again and again I have seen this talented 
and kind-hearted man bowed for days to the very earth, 
under a sense of this trangression. But, alas! after 
recovery, he went forth to commit the same sin. And 
yet, in this terrific disease he would often exclaim : 
' Blessed Savior, take this cup of affliction from me and 
let me sit at thy feet, clothed in my right mind ! Cast 
out this demon which I cannot subdue ! God, give 
me power by faith to overcome this temptation, this dread- 
ful propensity, this thirst for liquor.' In proof of the 
consequences of this unnatural indulgence in liquor and 
injurious effects of his intemperance, his wife bore unto 
him three children ; the first was sickly and weak, weigh- 
ing only two pounds at birth, which lived but a few weeks ; 
the second, a female, born an idiot, in a lunatic asylum. 
At the time of the writing of the history of the case, 
the third, a son, who at the age of fifteen became, like 
his father, a periodical drunkard, licentious and reckless, 
indulgent in all his appetites and devoted to liquor to a 
degree almost unparalleled." 

The Doctor says : "I was present at the birth of these 
three children." 

Xow, is not this stronge evidence that the father 
stamped his character upon his children most perfectly ? 
Then look at the subject in its true light and see how 



THE CURSE OF RUM. 185 

many pure-hearted and lovely women have drooped in 
spirits and health and their happiness been destroyed, when 
they have learned, too late, that they have been united to 
a drunkard, or a profligate and licentious man. Prosper- 
ity may shower its bright gifts on man ; wealth and art 
may combine to beautify and embellish his habitation ; 
science and literature may elevate his understanding and 
refine his taste ; the good and the great may court his 
society ; he may be exalted to the highest place in the 
gift of his countrymen ; of what avail are all these advan- 
tages, if his home presents a scene of corroding anxiety 
or humiliating mortification, caused by feeble, sickly, or 
inefficient and badly organized children ? Not until the 
public mind is fully awakened to the importance of the 
laws which govern a healthy action of mind and body, 
and also the hereditary descent of intellectual and moral 
qualities, can domestic happiness be predicted to a moral 
certainty, or approximate a more perfect state. That 
order and law govern all matter, animate and inanimate, 
is too well established to admit of a doubt. Shall it, 
then, be said that so important a subject as the physical 
and mental constitution of our children is a mere matter 
of chance, the only department of creation not subject to 
fixed and invariable laws ? Every just appreciation of the 
wisdom and goodness of a beneficent creator forbid it ! 
The law is irrevocable ; on the heads of the transgressor 
follows the punishment. It is written, " The sins of the 
parent shall visit the children." Then how essential that 



186 THE CURSE OF HTTM. 

the father, as well as the mother, be pure in thought and 
free from vice, as they have so strong an influence upon 
the disposition and temperament of unborn generations. 
Why, then, should parents, who profess the highest 
motives and affection for their children, not reflect on 
the dreadful consequence of conferring on their offspring 
this inheritable vice, intemperance. The parent who 
yields to this habit may undoubtedly confer, in many in- 
stances, a desire which may be easily called into action 
by circumstances or an impulsive feeling, which wars 
against reason and even a consciousness that it is wrong. 

Coleridge said that the history of man preceding his 
birth would probably be far more interesting, and con- 
tain events of greater moment than all that follow it. The 
ground work of all history is laid in embryo, and the 
seeds of evil there begin to take root, and to vegetate in 
a genial soil long before they open their leaves to the sky. 
We cannot aim too highly, nor hope too ardently, since 
the largeness of God's promises is proportioned to his own 
power to bestpw, and man's capacity to receive ; and, 
therefore, the prospects of the confiding spirit are as 
bright as heaven and as boundless as eternity. 

There are many, very many cases of regret. Too often 
it comes to us too late. When health is lost, honor is 
gone, lives have perished, friends have fled, companions 
have sunk down under the burden of despair and died. 

In comparison with the loss of a wife all other earthly 
bereavements are trifling. The wife, she who fills so large 



THE CURSE OF RTJM. 187 

a space in the domestic heaven ; she who is busied, so un- 
wearied in laboring for the precious ones arcund her — 
bitter is the tear that falls on her cold clay. You stand 
beside the coffin and think of the past. It seems an am- 
ber colored pathway, where the sun shone upon beautiful 
flowers, or the stars hung glittering overhead. Fain 
would the soul linger there. No thorns are remembered 
above that sweet form, save those your hand may have 
unintentionally planted. Her noble, tender heart lies 
open to your utmost light. You think of her now as all 
gentleness, all beauty and purity. But she is gone. The 
dear head that laid upon your bosom rests in the still 
darkness upon a pillow of clay. The hands that have 
ministered so untiringly are folded, white and cold, be- 
neath the gloomy portals of the grave. The heart whose 
very beat measured an eternity of love lies under your 
feet. The flowers she bent over with smiles, bend now 
above her with tears, shaking the dew from her petals, 
that the verdure around her grave may be kept green and 
beautiful. Many a husband may read this in the silence 
of a broken home. There is no white arm over your 
shoulder, no dear face to look up into the eye of love, no 
trembling lips to murmur the kindest feelings of the 
heart. Ah ! how sad, how lonely you feel for the idol of 
your heart. The little one whose nest death has rifled, 
gazes in wonder at your solemn face, puts up its tiny 
hands to stay the tears, and then nestles back to its 
father's breast, half conscious that the wing that sheltered 
it most fondly is broken forever. 



CHAPTER XIII. 



When we cast our eyes back through the dim arch of 
the past, and recall to mind our warmest friends, we are 
led to inquire, " Where are they now? " Ours is an im- 
mortal friendship, for it rests on an imperishable basis. 
It is not only union so long as we travel together, but 
union, too, in our everlasting rest. 

Dear reader, think candidly of the matter, think of the 
cruelty that is brought about through the imprudent and 
careless use of intoxicating drink. It is an evil that de- 
stroys thousands of human beings every year and should 
be banished from our land and that speedily. Think of 
the wives it has made widows, children orphans, and 
maniacs of many among all classes and of all ages. It 
fills our asylums with lunatics and our prisons with con- 
victs and furnishes the gallows with subjects for its office 
work ; it brings starvation, want and beggary in thous- 
ands of families where peace and plenty once reigned. 

We again declare, " Rum and its allies are the basis 
and platform of universal crime.' ' They are the corrupt- 



THE CURSE OF RUM. 189 

ing influences in society, in politics and in our legisla- 
tures. They are the illusions that draw the youth of 
the land into the fatal snare of intemperance, step by 
step, under the bewitching smiles of intrigue which the 
rum-seller dons : the dazzling glare of the rum-bottle, 
with its sparkling contents ; the streaming rays of the 
polished mirror flashing its brilliant light upon the imagin- 
ation like gliding phantoms on the wall. It only reminds 
us that all these lift the youthful spirit higher, that the 
fall may be more effective. 

THE TWO GLASSES. 

There sat two glasses, filled to the brim, 

On a rich man's table, rim to rim ; 

One was ruddy and red as blood, 

And one was as clear as the crystal flood. 

Said the glass of wine to the paler brother : 

" Let us tell the tales of the past to each other ; 

I can tell of a banquet and revel and mirth, 

And the proudest and grandest souls on earth 

Fell under my touch as though struck by blight ; 

Then I was king for I ruled in might. 

From the heads of kings I have torn the crown, 

From the heights of fame I have hurled men down ; 

I have blasted many an honest name ; 

I have taken virtue and given shame ; 

I have tempted the mouth with a sip, a taste, 

That has made his future a barren waste. 

Far greater than a king am I, 

Or any army beneath the sky. 

I have made the arm of the driver fail, 

I have sent the train from the iron rail ; 



190 THE CURSE OP RUM. 

I have made good ships go down at sea, 

And the shrieks of the lost were sweet to me ; 

For they said, ' behold how great you be ! 

Fame, strength, wealth, genius, before you fall, 

And your might and power are over all.' 

"Ho! ho! pale brother," laughed the wine, 

" Can you boast of deeds as great as mine? " 

Said the water glass, " I cannot boast 

Of a king dethroned or a murdered host ; 

But I can tell of a heart once sad, 

By my crystal drops made light and glad ; 

Of thirsts I've quenched, and brows I've laved; 

Of hands I've cooled, and souls I have saved ; 

I have leaped through the valley and dashed down the mountain, 

Slept in the sunshine and dropped from the sky, 

And everywhere gladdened the landscape and eye. 

I have eased the hot forehead of fever and pain, 

I have made the parched meadow grow fertile with grain; 

I can tell of the powerful wheel of the mill, 

That ground out the flour and turned at my will ; 

I can tell of manhood debased by you, 

That I have lifted and crowned anew ; 

I cheer, I help. I strengthen and aid; 

I gladden the heart of man and maid ; 

I set the wine-chained captive free, 

And all are better for knowing me." 

These are the tales they told each other, 

The glass of wine and its pale brother, 

As they sat together, filled to the brim, 

On the rich man's table, rim to rim. 

— Selected. 

William Brooks was killed and Joseph Reynolds fatally 

injured at a church festival, near Louisville, Ky. Some 

drunken negroes entered the church and provoked a row 



THE CURSE OF RUM. 191 

with the above result. Everybody knows that the result 
of strong drink is crime. 

We hope our readers will bear in mind the fairness with 
which we discuss the subject. TV r e do not wish to heap 
odium upon the heads of our fellow-men. Far from this. 
It is the principle of the traffic of which we speak, and 
but few disagree with us upon the subject. Any and all 
agree that the traffic must be confined to a certain extent. 
Of course I will agree to that as well ; but who can set a 
limit ? We must set limit to the solitary confinement of 
the criminal. Why? Because the criminal is dangerous. 
Then we answer the reason why we should confine the 
liquor question. Because it is a criminal offender, and a 
dangerous one. We should deal out capital punishment 
in the fullest extent ; hang it, behead it, kill it ; it is a 
murderer. It kills, it devastates, it gnaws the vitals of 
man, it brutally kills him ; it brings ruin, misery, want 
and misfortune to his family, and it saps the life and 
vigor from the nation. 

When we look over the statistics of the vast amount of 
wealth that is drawn into the channel of the drink traffic, 
and the amount of crime, poverty and misery it brings, I 
am astonished to think that a christian people will tolerate 
the business for even one year, and say the time has not 
yet come to tamper with the liquor question. Let me ask, 
were there a rattlesnake in yon field, would you kill it 
now, or would you wait until it had bitten all your chil- 
dren and then kill it? Read the above poem and note its 
truth. Below we give a few facts in figures, which will 
not lie : 



192 



THE CURSE OF RUM. 



Annual report of the Sheriff of the State of New York 
for the year ending October 30, 1888. Made to the Sec- 
retary of State of the State of New York, pursuant to 
chapter 728, session laws of 1886. The following is re- 
ported : 



Sums Ex- 
pended 

for Pris- 
oners' 
Board. 



Albany 

Allegany 

Broome 

Cliemung . .. 
Chenango.... 

Clinton 

Cortland 

Columbia 
Delaware .... 

Dutchess 

Erie 

Essex 

Fulton ... 

Genesee '.. 

Greene 

Hamilton . . . 

Herkimer 

Jefferson 

Kings 

Livingston. . . 
Montgomery . 

Monroe 

New York . . 
Ontario ...... 

Orleans 

Otsego 

Putnam 

Rockland.... 

Saratoga 

Schoharie... . 

Schuyler 

St. Lawrence. 

Seneca 

Sullivan 

Suffolk 

Tioga 

Tompkins... . 

Lister 

Warren 

Washington. . 

Wayne 

Westchester.. 
Wj-oming... . 
Yates 



$13149 50 

1,264 6^ 

3,086 57 

5.856 " 

1,589 16 

1,500 00 

533 00 

887 25 

966 00 

1,800 00 

3,982 15 

742 50 

510 00 

500 00 

634 50 

23 50 

2,500 00 

4,118 56 

50,439 69 

1,350 50 

1,548 00 

3,281 10 

7,134 43 

2,166 01 

750 63 

1,324 59 

430 17 

1,064 00 

3,030 CO 

928 70 i 

866 62 

2,500 oo: 

311 50 

685 00 1 

1,203 39 

1,477 00 

937 oo; 

7,340 37 

268 85 

1,100 16 

1,150 00, 

6,240 00 

655 92| 

940 00 



Salaries 
of officers 

in charge 



81 



132,683 74 



,700 00 

54 00 

351 50 

603 31 

90 



Medical 
Attend- 
ance. 



113 25 
280 00 

66 27 
1,140 00 
1,500 00 

25 50 

60 50 

50 00 

40 50 

1 00 

84 00 

691 88 

4,200 00 

150 00 

524 50 

475 50 

3,300 00 

404 98 

360 00 

300 00 

15 07 

67 50 
273 00 

55 74 
78 75 

365 00 
20 50 
22 50 j 
35 50 1 

309 25| 
59 75' 

412 50, 
11 25: 
75 63 

422 00 ! 

1,700 00 

69 00 

500 00 



21,199 39 



$259 00 

25 00 

62 00 

91 50 

27 87 

25 00 

23 75 

100 00 

312 00 

10 50 

314 50 

26 

25 00 



Prison- 
ers' 
Cloth- 
ing. 



25 00 
260 25 
511 00 
270 00 
515 00 
400 00 

29 50 

91 00 
400 00 

29 00 

92 50 
44 00 

5 00 
12 00 
50 00 
10 
21 50 
36 00 

25 00 

25 00 



5 00 
350 00 



20 00 
35 00 

628 32 
10 00 

104 00 



5,952 69 



$4 00 
16 00 
18 00 
35 00 
50 00 
25 00 
8 00 
35 38 
62 5u 
534 00 

i 

13 Ov 



34 00 
100 o<- 
100 (0 

63 15 
1,223 5li 

50 00 
100 50 
105 75 



51 00 
34 00 



47 75 
32 75 
135 00 
26 45 
25 00 
45 (0 



50 00 
50 60 



17 30 
1,332 86 

4 75 

78 3' 

50 00 

202 00 

18 50 
24 70 



4,773,09 



Beds 

and 

Bedding 



50 



Light 
and 
Fuel 



$631 50 $1776 50 



47 
201 

15 
150 
441 

16 

11 



15 CO 



35 00 
125 00 
214 38 

65 00 
140 75 
368 95 
700 00 
254 00 

15 00 



1 60 

39 00 
175 00 
36 71 
31 00 
25 00 



39 00 
147 



46 20 

548 50 

6 75 

57 00 

60 00 

245 45 

57 36 

90 00 



3,797 76 



40 00 
241 45 
150 00 

75 00 
200 00 
141 75 
250 00 

73 75 

1,200 00 

750 00 

62 00 
275 00 
115 00 
262 00 



200 00 

375 00 
2,333 02 

200 00 
142 00 

376 53 
1,068 

346 35 
196 00 
440 CO 
217 50 
263 50 
450 00 
150 00 
15) 00 
425 CO 

25 00 

75 00 
105 50 
200 00 
184 07 
480 00 

33 on 
242 28 
150 00 
605 00 

70 00 
237 50 



15,257 70 



Furni- 
ture and 
Repairs 



16 CO 

56 16 

450 CO 

4 25 

120 00 

4 CO 

50 00 

78 50 

400 00 

106C 23 

95 32 

70 Ml 



60 00 



1000 00 
155 00 
574 62 
150 00 
25 00 
605 (5 

306*03 
15 cu 

36*10 
3 00 
300 00 



125 CO 

200 CO 

10 00 

170 00 

225 9 j 



13 J 95 

"65*00 

130 CO 

75 00 

203 82 
81 CI 
25 0j 



5,675 80 



THE CURSE OF RUM. 193 

We find in figuring up from actual reports from the 
sheriffs of forty-four counties in the Empire State, that 
the cost of maintaining the prisoners in those counties 
amounts to the sum of one hundred and eighty-nine 
thousand, two hundred and forty dollars and sixteen 
cents, besides the amount spent in making arrests and the 
cost of trial. All this in the Empire State, whose motto 
is Excelsior. We compare the figures of the same coun- 
ties in the year of 1886, and find crime has increased, and 
the expenses of caring for prisoners has increased to 
double the amount of those figures, amounting in the last 
year to three hundred and seventy-eight thousand, four 
hundred and eighty dollars and thirty- two cents. This is 
all in a Christian land and rum is the foundation of eight- 
tenths of all the crime committed, and men are licensed 
to sell it by a Christian people. 

The liquor debt of 1886, in the State of New York, 
amounted to ninety-six millions of dollars, while that of 
Pennsylvania was seventy-eight millions of dollars. Ohio, 
Illinois and Michigan are not far behind, if any, according 
to their population. While the liquor debt of the United 
States in 1886 amounted to nine hundred and seventy-six 
millions, nine hundred and seventy-six thousand, four 
hundred and nineteen dollars, the cost of maintaining the 
inmates of the prisons, asylums and poor-houses in the 
United States would more than buy bread and meat for 
the population of the United States. While the cost of 
rum exceeds twice the cost of bread for the American 



194 THE CURSE OF HUM. 

people, the cost of bread for one year is but an 
expense of five hundred and six millions of dollars. The 
money chewed up and smoked out in tobacco in one year 
in the United States amounts to six hundred millions of 
dollars. 

The number of pounds of tobacco grown in the United 
States in 1886 was four hundred and sixty-nine millions, 
eight hundred and sixteen thousand, two hundred and 
three, while the number of bushels of wheat produced the 
same year in the United States was but four hundred and 
fifty-nine millions, four hundred and seventy-nine thous- 
and, five hundred and five. The cost of beef and pork 
consumed in the United States the same year was but 
four hundred and forty-five millions of dollars. 

Kind reader, could the amount of money paid out for 
drink be withheld from the traffic, the amount of crime 
would be lessened, our prisons would not be needed, our 
poor-houses could be levelled to the earth, our asylums 
would become measurably vacant, our homes would grow 
up in thrift and riot and revelry would die out ; corruption 
would be driven from our political parties, our schools 
would flourish in every quarter of the land, the disturber 
would not infest our streets ; all would meet and move 
harmoniously together. There would be no shades of 
sorrow hanging upon the brow of the lonely wife as she 
watched carefully over the little ones, fearing the approach 
of her drunken husband, that oft times had promised re- 
form, but was led on by the subtle influence, until the 




STRONG DRINK BROUGHT ME TO THIS . 



What will my poor mother do? She always taught me to shun bad company, 
and above all other places of evil, to keep away from saloons, which she declared 
would inevitably lead young men to ruin, prison and the gallows ! Little did I 
think that I should ever fall a victim to the fell destroyer, and so soon become a 
subject of the dark and gloomy cell of a prison! But alas! too late. I heeded 
not her warnings and I was led on from one step to another, an easy victim of 
dissipation, a graduate in crime, and now enter the home for criminals, behind 
the bars, and within the dingy walls of State prison. First, cider, then beer 
and whiskey. What then? Conviction of crime ! Strong drink does it every time, 
there's no e.scr/pe .' 



THE CURSE OF RUM. 195 

wife, discouraged and disheartened, had sunk down in 
despair to die broken-hearted, watching faithfully over 
her little treasures, till the last gleam of hope had fled 
forever. 

OUR LAST APPEAL. 

Voters of the United States, the time is fast approach- 
ing when we shall be called to meet to decide an all im- 
portant question, one upon which hangs the destiny of 
our nation and the welfare of its people, and it is for 
you to turn the scales in favor of justice and liberty, or 
tip the balance in favor of the reign of terror. Our coun- 
try is now ruled by the whiskey monopoly. The old 
parties are arrayed against each other with their banners 
floating out upon the breeze, each claiming protection. 
Dear reader, let me ask you, is it protection for the labor- 
ing man? Is it protection for the homes of thousands of 
families that are suffering from the cruel effects of rum ? 
We answer no, it is protection for the tariff of that damn- 
nable stuff that makes demons of men and a pandemon- 
ium of our halls of legislature, and has already driven the 
country to the vortex of ruin. Voter, do not be deceived, 
vote as you pray ; the old party organs declare that every 
vote you cast for a Prohibition candidate is helping the 
candidate who is in opposition to their policy ; it is false. 
Do not be led by false lights which only draw those that 
follow them into the pit of corruption and they become 
lost and all perish in the body politic. Is it not just as 
good logic to declare they would count for an enemy on 



196 THE CURSE OF RUM. 

the right or on the left alike ? Remember when you are 
at the ballot box you are fighting for your own flag, your 
own rights, your own liberties and your own homes, and 
that all opposers are enemies to the cause you have 
espoused. 

Remember the Republican dodge in the New York Legis- 
lature, when asked by the Woman's Christian Temper- 
ance Union to submit a Prohibition amendment in the State 
Constitution to the people. For the sake of deceiving 
the voters to draw them to their support in the coming 
campaign, they did introduce a bill to that effect ; but 
when the leaders found the bill was liable to find its way 
through both Houses and go before the people, nineteen 
of its supporters voted dead against it, defeating the 
measure by a majority of one only. When they do this, 
what won't they do to deceive ? Voters, do not wait for 
the Prohibition craft to sail around promiscuously to pick 
you up ; volunteer to man the ship of State with able sea- 
men. She is a staunch vessel and will eventually knock 
the stuffing out of the rotten hulks of the old party crafts 
that are floating about without rudder or helm to steer 
them except the vile scandal that hangs promiscuous at 
their mast-head. The Prohibition ship is built of sound 
material. Each plank is of the soundest oak ; her spars are 
of American pine ; she is manned by able seamen ; her 
captain and officers are skillful mariners, and the flag 
she carries at her mast-head is an emblem of liberty, 
and signifies death to alcohol, and freedom to the Ameri- 



THE CURSE OF RUM. 197 

can people. Voters, do not offer as an excuse, that you 
vote with your old party because the Prohibition party is 
young and feeble, and cannot elect their man. Remember 
when Christ came to establish his church, He had but a 
few followers. But soon the little spark was fanned into 
a blaze, and Judaism took a tumble and the fragments are 
scattered, never again to be rebuilt. The fire of Prohibi- 
tion is burning to that extent, that the fumes of alcohol 
shall soon become extinct and shall no more be scented 
in our land. Let us build the funeral pyre for the fell 
destroyer that has blighted so many, once happy, Ameri- 
can homes. Let us sound the tocsin of war against our 
most bitter foes, rum and its allies, and fight to the bitter 
end, until victory has crowned our efforts. Then shall go 
forth the glorious news throughout the land, and be heard 
and re-echoed back from the hillsides and valleys, echoing 
down along the streams and floating on the breeze far out 
o'er the broad ocean, telling to nations of the globe that 
rum has taken its everlasting fall, and America is free. 
Voters, is there not manhood enough about, you, to be 
willing to dispense with the poison that you can do with- 
out, and vote against the tariff for the sake of putting the 
vile stuff out of the reach of those who grasp the fatal 
cup and swallow its poison contents, with the following 
words upon their lips : 

Wretch that I am how often have I swore 
While rum was sold that I would drink no more ; 
I know the bite, yet to my ruin run, 
And see the folly that I cannot shun. 



198 THE CURSE OF RUM. 

First cider, then beer, winding up with stronger drink, 
the poor-house, the prison, the gallows and a drunkard's 
grave, with a criminal's record left for friends to read 
and reflect over. 



CHAPTER XIV. 



Reader, it is the host of manufacturers and dealers in 
intoxicating drink that is arrayed against humanity. You 
will find these the supporters of the dens of vice and im- 
morality, such as the gambler, the harlot, the convict, 
the politician and the libertine. But the lines are being 
drawn ; purity against corruption ; right against wrong. 
Reader, which side are you on ? Now is the time to make 
your choice. Which will you protect, the rum-seller in 
his hellish traffic, or the homes of fifty millions of people? 
Voters, it is for you to decide by your ballot whether you 
will rivet the shackles of rum and heavy taxes upon 
the American people, the dangers of crime and infamy 
upon the people, or banish forever the growing evil, that 
deep-rooted curse, that blasts the prospects of many a 
loving wife, and makes desolate many a bright and happy 
home. Voters, the rum-sellers will tell you it is taking 
away their rights. W T e will answer this point by admitting 
that it is taking away their rights to make drunkards of 
men and paupers of their families. Readers of this work, 



200 THE CURSE OF RUM. 

I speak through these pages to millions of people, who, 
by birth and adoption have chosen to live and die on 
American soil, making it their homes in life, and their 
eternal resting place in their last long sleep in death. Tis 
the land of then.' choice, whose broad acres, rich and fer- 
tile, stretch out from the Atlantic coast toward the setting 
sun. Whose climate is salubrious, and whose fields are 
teeming with fruits, vegetables and grain, used by every 
civilized nation on the globe. A land whose mountains, 
valleys and plains are equal in richness of mines to any in 
the known world. A land possessing resources of self 
support, independent of the outside world, and in many 
cases supplying the outside hungry world with bread, beef, 
bacon and cotton. A land of which we once boasted as 
being a land of light and liberty ; and the voice of the 
people was the supreme law of the land. A land where 
the stranger was welcomed to its peaceful shores, and 
could retire at night without fear of being robbed of what 
little wealth they possessed, or being hurled into eternity 
by the cruel hand of the midnight assassin, ere the dawn 
of morning. A land where locks were not known or 
needed ; a man's word once pledged by him was law ; a 
note once given was a contract not to be broken : a land 
where the Sabbath was rarely broken, and the young girl 
was as safe from harm by the ruthless hand of the villain, 
as the infant in its mother's arms ; the sound of honest 
labor was heard throughout the land wherever the work- 
shop existed ; there was nothing known of strikes or riots 



THE CURSE OF RUM. 201 

among the busy throng of workmen, by dissatisfied, 
drunken disturbers. Our places of holding elections were 
considered temples of honor, where men went to deposit 
their ballots under honest convictions, for honest candi- 
dates, electing men who filled places of trust with credit 
to themselves, and satisfactory to the people whom they 
represented. In place of the old-fashioned spinning- 
wheel, large factories have found their way to assist in the 
rapid work of clothing the millions. Vast machine shops 
have sprung up for manufacturing machinery for gather- 
ing the immense quantities of golden grain that spread 
like a broad ocean in the vast expanse of our cultivated 
fields. The old, sl(*w and tedious mode of traveling in 
the stage coach is forgotten in the lightning speed that 
we are hurled across the continent over the iron rail, 
drawn by the iron horse that never tires ; the old manner 
of communicating with friends, or in business matter, 
which consumed weeks of time, now is spoken in as many 
seconds, the human voice carried from shore to shore 
with the velocity of lightning itself ; our communication 
around the world is swift as thought ; our churches, with 
their domes and spires pointing heavenward, are numbered 
by tens of thousands. Yes ! this is an enlightened land, 
with a Christian people to rule and govern, to make our 
laws and enforce them. But, gentle reader, listen to the 
mutterings from the pen of the author, while he makes 
note of a few facts concerning the doings of a Christian 
American people. A vile serpent has appeared in the 



202 THE CURSE OF RUM. 

garden, the Eden of America. The name of this serpent 
is strong drink. Its mission is to destroy. Fostered by 
a Christian people who vote in favor of license, high or 
low. Licensing men to pour out the poisonous liquid of 
death, to any and all who will swallow the liquid fire of 
Hell. That serpent of destruction, the fiery-eyed mon- 
ster, is lurking in our land, in every State, in every city, 
borough and town, and we may safely assert, in almost 
every household. Beginning first with the cider barrel, 
next the wine cask, lastly the rum keg, the beer and 
whiskey barrel. Beginning with the cider barrel in the 
home and at the fireside, the serpent begins gently to in- 
fluence the youth of the household iifto the broad road of 
ruin that lies open before them ready to receive all who 
follow the dragon of despair along the slippery paths of 
youth, until the beer and whiskey barrel looms up to 
crown the victim with its everlasting curse. The serpent, 
whose hiding place is in the cider barrel, the rum cask, 
the decanter, and pocket flask, the beer glass, and the 
goblet, draws cautiously its fatal cords at first, but once 
within its grasp it tightens its coils around its victims, 
and from the fatal coil there is no retreat. Fathers and 
mothers, remember the influence you set before your chil- 
dren goes with them through life. To use the words of 
the illustrious Pope : " 'Tis education forms the common 
mind ; just as the twig is bent, the tree inclines." Many 
may be drawn from the paths of peace by the influence of 
later years, but the gentle caresses and teachings of 



THE CURSE OF RUM. 203 

parents will cling to memory when childhood has grown 
to manhood and womanhood, in spite of all that has in- 
tervened. Well do I remember the caresses, the tears, 
the anxious hope, the earnest fears and kind attention 
my parents heaped upon me, when I was a little white- 
haired, careless boy, though my parents have long since 
gone to their long rest, and the writer's hair is streaked 
with silvery tint of years that's come and gone ; well do 
I remember the warnings of a kind father and loving 
mother, whose every precept was warning to shun the 
path of vice. Parents, beware of the influence you place 
before your children. You stand in relation to your 
children as the oak to the ivy. You as the oak, your 
children as the tender vine clinging to you for support in 
their tender years, learning lessons of wisdom or folly, 
according to the training they receive at your hands. 
Wine is a mocker, strong drink is debasing. It stingeth 
like an adder whose bite is death. Over two hundred 
thousand licenses granted by the authorities, and sanc- 
tioned by courts of the United States and of several 
States. And the law makes those holding licenses good 
moral characters, for it says explicitly, persons holding 
licenses must be possessed of good moral characters ; but 
many of the holders we fear would, if weighed in the 
balance, be found wanting. So we will proceed to weigh 
a few of the many. In New City alone there are some 
over sixteen thousand licenses for selling drink ; twelve 
thousand of these places are gambling dens and brothels ; 



204 THE CURSE OF RUM. 

five thousand of this number have been in State prison, 
three thousand have been confined in the police stations, 
and four thousand have been confined in county prisons ; 
only four thousand escaping the clutches of the law. 
These are the " cast of characters " that play their part in 
the drama of " ruin," as star characters. The question 
arises, "Who makes them so?" Let me tell you, dear 
reader, they are christened " stars," by the ballots of a 
Christian people, who pray for God to banish the curse of 
rum from the land, and vote in favor of licensing these 
characters to sell rum, the cause of nearly all the crime 
committed. Thinking to bring a revenue into the treas- 
ury for the purpose of lightening the burden of taxes, 
forgetting the cost of trying criminals, building prisons 
to confine them in, and expense of keeping them, besides 
the amount of poverty, pauperism and the heavy taxes 
they are compelled to pay to keep up the expense of the 
poorhouses and asylums, which is brought about by the 
nefarious traffic in intoxicating drink. These license 
holders are the people who are let loose upon this nation 
to curse us with pauperism and crime, idiocy, insanity 
and death. Why do we send missionaries to the islands 
of the seas, for the purpose of converting these that never 
knew anything of the outrage and crime, and who in all 
their barbarity would shrink in shame from doing what is 
carried on in almost every city and town in the home of 
those that come to teach them piety ? Why not rid our 
own country of the great evil that exists among us, that 



THE CURSE OF RUM. 205 

brings so much cursedness and crime within our own 
domiciles ? Let us wake up from the lethargy that hangs 
about us ; let us declare that we will protect the homes 
and industries of the American people in such a manner 
that peace may reign where confusion once disturbed ; 
happiness may be realized in every breast where misery 
and woe once filled their troubled hearts ; that the homes 
of the destitute shall be filled with the good things of 
earth, and want and suffering shall not be known through 
the cruel effects of rum. 

The time has come when we, as voters, must determine 
whether or not men shall be allowed to deluge our own 
fair land with rum. The land that we have chosen for 
ourselves and families as our home ; the land where many 
of us were cradled in our infancy ; the land of our home 
in our youthful days, and the land that shall be our home 
in old age, and our last resting place when our last flutter- 
ing pulse shall cease to beat. Consider well a few im- 
portant questions that will not be out of place : Have 
you children you wish to have ruined ? Have you friends 
you wish to have ruined? Do you wish to ruin your own 
happiness ? If not, then do not favor the traffic that is the 
basis of universal crime. Now is the time to seal the 
destiny of the future ; in the traffic lies the destruction of 
your fellow men. If you wish to overrun our country 
with murder and theft and crime of every grade, there is 
no surer way than to let strong drink be master. If you 
have peace, prosperity, happiness and safety, the traffic 



206 THE CURSE OF RUM. 

must be abolished. Think of the thousands of families 
that to-day are suffering from the sins of drunken fathers. 
Many a kind and loving wife, many a helpless child 
before whose innocence the brightest star on the brow of 
night grows dim, is suffering from cold and hunger, star- 
vation staring them relentlessly in the face, with not one 
morsel of bread with which to drive the wolf from the 
door. Comrades, fall In line ; let us unite like the waters 
of many rivers, forming a mighty ocean that cannot be 
held in check, and rush on to the work that lies before us 
with a courage that shall prove us heroes and not 
cowards, that our work shall be well done, that rum shall 
be forever swept from our land, and those who now man- 
ufacture and sell it, shall look upon its absence as a bless- 
ing and not as a curse, and they be among the first to 
convert the breweries and malt-houses into colleges and 
schoolhouses. 

Kind reader, it is with the highest regard for the rights 
and liberties of mankind^ with sympathy for all, and 
malice toward none, and a profound regard for truth and 
justice to all, and an earnest desire for the welfare of the 
children of our nation, and finally for the people of the 
whole world with its generations to come throughout all 
time, that has induced me to undertake the task of collect- 
ing historical facts and gathering statistics of the cost, 
crime and inconsistency of the use and effects of intoxi- 
cating drink. Let me again call your attention for a few 
moments to a time in the history of America when the 



THE CURSE OF RUM. 207 

effect of strong drink was not known. The Puritans left 
their native land in search of freedom. They built them- 
selves homes in the forest away from oppression, away 
from the stench of rum, away from debauchery and crime. 
But, alas ! mark the change ; rum has invaded our land ; 
its strongholds are barricaded by the ballots of the people, 
and it is dealing out death and destruction at a fearful 
rate. There must be some remedy applied, and that very 
soon, or the liberties of the people will become irretriev- 
ably lost. Our government is already controlled by rum 
power. 

Voters, rise in your might, or you must soon be com- 
pelled to witness the downfall of free institutions and 
look upon our once peaceful and happy homes as places 
of debauchery and crime. To-day rum stands as the 
ruling power behind the throne of wealth. Listen, my 
friends ! A new sound breaks in upon our ears. 'Tis 
not the roar of cannon, or the shrill blast of the war 
bugle to call soldiers to the field to fight a foreign foe. 
It is the heart-rending moan of pity that is wafted on 
the air, coming from thousands of homes that have been 
made desolate and whose inmates have been made vic- 
tims of starvation and crime by the ruthless and uncom- 
promising enemy that is stalking in our land, supporting 
riot, revelry and ruin. The name of this wicked foe, is 
Rum ! Rum has invaded our country and is making its 
inroads into our nation, seizing its victims and hurling 
them to destruction at a fearful rate ; and with it has 



208 THE CURSE OF RUM. 

come extravagance and recklessness, treachery and crime. 
It has brought crime without stint, dishonesty without 
limit. It has no respect for race, color, or sex. It 
brings all who swallow the deadly poison, down beneath 
its vital touch. Under its influence men become reckless ; 
through recklessness they become disorderly and dishon- 
est. Many of our statesmen come upon the floor in the 
halls of legislation in wild excitement under its influence, 
offering measures which are likely to become laws to 
which the people must submit, whether just or unjust. 
Voters, will you suffer it to be so? 

I have often, in my travels, seen men under the influ- 
ence of strong drink, who did not appear fit for common 
bar-room society. We see men in all grades of society, 
when once they have become addicted to strong drink, 
unfitted for the positions they fill, even from the beggar 
to the statesman. It has found its way among the Sen- 
ators and Eepresentatives and they become degraded ; 
like the serpent in Eden, its subtle influence is felt and 
our Paradise is lost. Voters, fly to the rescue ! The 
conflict is irrepressible. Let us conquer the fiery-eyed 
monster ere its poisonous venom is felt in every home in 
America. At present there is no peace, no safety, no 
spot wherein we can find refuge ; our legislators have 
become corrupt, our standing armies demoralized, our 
seamen careless, our people boisterous, and thousands of 
the fair sex reckless. Our ladies stand in fear daily of 
insults as they walk the streets of our cities ; in our 



THE CURSE OF RUM. 209 

homes in the rural districts, our families are subject 
to insults and abuse by the vulgar, drunken tramp. The 
peace and quietude of our churches is made to feel its 
effect, as can be seen in our cities and towns ; low, vile 
rum-holes have found their way and are nestled beneath 
the shadows of the walls, or within a stone's throw of 
the temples of worship. Who is there among my read- 
ers that will not support the cause of honor, peace, man- 
hood, safety and happiness ? We will not drag out these 
pages to weary our readers, but will close, leaving our 
readers to ponder over our closing remarks. 



CHAPTER XV. 

In closing our work we earnestly appeal to the people 
to whom this shall come greeting, in the name and cause 
of suffering humanity to read and reflect. Bear in mind 
that the aid you bestow upon the sufferer is pouring oil 
upon wounds, and lightens the burden of suffering. 
Listen with attention while we speak of a few of the evils 
that arise from the effects of strong drink. It not only 
destroys the health but inflicts ruin wherever it goes. On 
a recent Saturday night a count was made in two hundred 
saloons in London, and it was found that between the 
hours of nine and twelve o'clock they were visited by 
forty-eight thousand eight hundred and five men, thirty 
thousand seven hundred and four women, and seven 
thousand and nineteen children, or in all, by eighty-six 
thousand seven hundred and eight persons. It was also 
found that in one of the best quarters of the city one 
thousand two hundred and fifty well-dressed women enter- 
ed at twelve saloons between the hours of ten and twelve 
o'clock, one thousand one hundred and twenty-two of 
whom took malt, and the balance took spirituous liquors, 
which in every case they drank over the bar. In none of 



THE CURSE OF RUM. 211 

the saloons were there screens before the doors and 
windows, as in American drinking places. London has a 
population of three millions, eight hundred and thirty-two 
thousand, four hundred and forty-one inhabitants. It has 
sixteen thousand drinking places, and it is not to be 
wondered that there is so much drinking going on in this 
great metropolis of Great Britain. There is a striking 
feature of the great city in our own, the great Empire 
State. There are nearly as many drinking places in New 
York city as in London, although the population of New 
York city is only about one third the number, or one mil- 
lion, two hundred and six thousand. This all in our own 
beloved America, in the Empire State, whose motto is 
4 'Excelsior." It does excel; in drink, in revelry, in 
crime, it rivals all other States ; also in corrupt influences 
in elections and in the halls of legislation, it outstrips any 
and everything we can find on record. Nothing but the 
recording angel's pen is equal to the task of keeping 
track of the cost, the crime, the want, the misery, the 
poverty, the rottenness oi our license laws that are twist- 
ed in such shape that they are appealed from time to time, 
and court to court, until the tax-payer loses sight of the way 
and manner they are conducted until he is faced by the 
stern, unrelenting collector to settle the whole bill. The 
tax-payers pay the bills, from which there is no retreat ; 
it's sink or swim ; pay the bills or you are sold out and 
your family is turned into the streets to beg, steal or starve. 
We have already spoken of the nine hundred and sev- 



212 THE CURSE OF RUM. 

enty-six millions of dollars, the drink debt of the United 
States, the cost of rum and its allies, and now, when we 
come to figure up the cost of crime and bringing of crimi- 
nals to justice, and to feed and clothe them, it takes eight 
hundred millions more to clean up the stench of crime, 
nine-tenths of which is committed through and under the 
influence of intoxicating drink. We declare it a curse to 
the country, a curse to the people, and a curse to the 
world at large, and the people who uphold its traffic and 
aid and abet in carrying on the manufacture and sale of 
ardent spirits, men who vote for measures to protect the 
trade, are no better than the man or woman who sells or 
makes it. 

Let me say right here, the manufacturer and the dealer 
who sells it, get rich out of the traffic ; the drinker gets 
poor, poverty stricken, wretched, forlorn, discouraged, 
drunk, crazy and finally ruined, and all the tax-payers 
get out of the job is the heavy burden of taxes which 
they must settle ! 

Besides all this, let us take into consideration what it 
leads to besides the paying of the bills, which is but a 
small portion of the evil that is growing upon the nation 
and upon the people of the whole world. To make the 
case unmistakably plain to the voter, who should study 
carefully before he casts his ballot in favor of any meas- 
ure, we will tell you in plain words what the use of in- 
toxicating drink does, and they are facts that we are 
going to speak and reasonable men will not deny them. 



THE CURSE OF RUM. 213 

Intemperance not only destroys the health, but inflicts 
ruin upon the innocent and helpless ; for it invades the 
family and social circle, and spreads woe and sorrow all 
around ; it cuts down youth in all its vigor, manhood in 
its strength, and age in its weakness. It breaks the 
father's heart, bereaves the doting mother, extinguishes 
natural affection, erases conjugal love, blots out filial 
attachment, blights parental hope, and brings down 
mourning age in sorrow to the grave. It produces weak- 
ness, not strength ; sickness, not health, death, not life. 
It makes wives widows, children orphans, fathers friend- 
less, and all of them beggars. It produces fevers, feeds 
rheumatism, nurses gout, welcomes epidemics, invites 
disease, imparts pestilence, embraces consumption, cher- 
ishes dyspepsia, and encourages apoplexy and paralytic 
affections. It covers the land with idleness and poverty, 
disease and crime ; it fills our jails, supplies our alms- 
houses and furnishes subjects for our asylums ; it engen- 
ders controversies, fosters quarrels and cherishes riots ; 
it condemns law, spurns order ; it crowds the peniten- 
tiaries and furnishes the victims for the scaffold ; it is the 
life-blood of the gambler, the food of the counterfeiter, 
the prop of the highwayman, and the support of the 
midnight incendiary and assassin, the friend and com- 
panion of the brothel ; it countenances the thief, respects 
the liar, and esteems the blasphemer ; it violates obliga- 
tions, reverences fraud and honors infamy ; it defames 
benevolence, hates love, scorns virtue, and slanders inno- 
cence ; it incites the father to butcher his innocent 



214 THE CURSE OF RUM. 

children, helps the husband to kill his wife, and aids the 
child to grind the paricidal axe. It burns man, consumes 
woman, detests life, curses God, and despises Heaven. 
It suborns witnesses, nurses perjury, defiles the jury box, 
and stains the judicial ermine. It bribes voters, corrupts 
elections, poisons our institutions, and endangers our 
government ; degrades the citizen, corrupts the legislator 
and dishonors the statesman. It brings shame, not 
honor ; terror, not safety ; despair, not hope ; misery, 
not happiness ; and now, as with all the malevolence of a 
fiend, it calmly surveys its frightful desolation, and, in- 
satiate with havoc, it poisons felicity, kills peace, ruins 
morals, blights confidence, slays reputation and wipes out 
national honor ; then curses the world and laughs at the 
ruin it has inflicted upon the human race. 

Here comes a sad case of a youth, a noble, generous 
youth, from whose heart flowed a living fount of pure 
and holy feeling which spread around and fertilized the 
soil of friendship, and warm and generous hearts crowd- 
ed around and enclosed him in a circle of pure and gen- 
tle happiness. The eyes of women brightened at his 
approach and wealth and honor smiled to welcome him to 
their circle. His days sped onward, and as a summer's 
brook sparkles all joyous on its gladsome way, so sped he 
on, blithesome amid the light of woman's love and man- 
hood's eulogy. He wooed and won a maid of peerless 
charms ; a being, fair and delicate and pure, bestowed 
the harvest of her heart's young love upon him. The car 



THE CURSE OF RT7M. 215 

of time rolled on, and clouds arose to dim the horizon of 
his worldly happiness. The serpent of inebriation crept 
into the Eden of his heart. The pure and holy feelings 
which the God of nature had implanted in his soul be- 
came polluted by the influence of the mis-called social 
cup. The warm and generous aspirations of his soul 
became frozen and callous within him. The tears of the 
wretched, the agony of the afflicted wife, found no re- 
sponse within his bosom. The pure and holy fount of 
universal love within his heart, that once gushed forth at 
the moanings of misery, and prompted the hand to ad- 
minister unto the requirements of the wretched, sent 
forth no more its pure and benevolent offering. Its 
waters had become intermingled with the poisoned in- 
gredients of spirits and the rank weeds of intemperance 
had sprung up and choked the fount from which the 
stream flowed. The dark spirit of poverty had flapped 
his wings over his habitation and the burning hand of 
disease had seared the brightness of his eye, and palsied 
the elasticity of his step. The friends who basked in 
the sunshine of his prosperity, fled when the wintry 
winds of adversity blew harshly around his dwelling. 
Pause, gentle reader. Go to yon burial place, and ask 
who rests beneath its lowly surface. Soft and silent 
comes the answer. The mouldering remains of a drunk- 
ard. One who possessed a heart overflowing with the 
milk of human kindness ; the days of whose boyhood 
were hallowed by high and noble aspirations ; the hours 



216 THE CCR3E OF RUM. 

of whose early manhood were unstained by care and 
crime ; the setting orb of whose destiny was enshrouded 
in a mist of misery and degradation. He saw the smile 
of joy sparkling in the social glass. He noted not the 
demon of destruction lurking at the bottom of the goblet. 
With eager hand he raised the poisoned glass to his lips, 
and he was ruined. 

It is liquor that mars the whole consistency and blights 
the noblest energies of the soul ; it wrecks and withers 
forever the happiness of the domestic fireside ; it clogs 
and dampens all the generous and affectionate avenues of 
the heart ; it makes a man a drone in the busy hive of 
society, an encumbrance to himself and a source of un- 
happiness to all around him ; it deprives him of his 
natural energy, and makes him disregard the wants of the 
innocent beings who are nearest to him and dependent 
upon him ; it transforms gifted man into a brute and 
causes him to forfeit the affections and break the heart of 
the innocent and confiding being whom God has made in- 
separable with himself, and who should look up to him 
for protection and comfort ; it causes him contemptuously 
to disregard the kind admonition of a loving wife. 

Liquor ! Oh, how many earthly Edens hast thou made 
desolate ! How many starved and naked orphans hast 
thou cast upon the cold charities of a cold, unfriendly 
world ! How many graves hast thou filled with broken- 
hearted, confiding wives ! What sad wrecks hast thou 
made of brilliant talents and genius? Would to high 



THE CUfcSE OF RUM. 21 7 

Heaven that there was one universal temperance society 
and all mankind were members of it. The glorious 
cause of freedom would be advanced, and myriads of 
bare-footed orphans and broken-hearted wives would chant 
praises to Heaven for the success of the temperance 
cause. The lost would be reclaimed and bleeding hearts 
healed. 0, thou mighty transformer of intellectual and 
generous-hearted man into all that is despicable ! 

The effect which the habit of drunkenness produces in 
offspring is one which, on account of false delicacy and 
ignorance, has seldom been presented before society with 
that clearness and, in fact, truth which the nature of the 
case demands. Science and general intelligence at the 
present time have greatly changed the public taste, and 
the topics which a few years ago could only be found in- 
vestigated in medical works and occasionally hinted at in 
public prints, are now wisely and anxiously listened to 
with prof ound interest and attention by large, refined and 
respectable audiences. In presenting the subject we are 
led by motives of benovelence to not only individuals and 
families, but humanity itself. 



CHAPTER XVI. 



It is now found that to benefit mankind we must com- 
mence at the foundation, the root and origin of the evil, 
and that to obviate any particular evil the best way is to 
inform the reason and address the judgment and thus 
force conviction on the understanding and the heart. 
The deleterious effects of drunkenness are demonstrated 
from fact. In regard to posterity, a knowledge of con- 
stitutional deformity in the child in consequence of the 
intoxication and intemperate habits of the parent should 
convince us that the use of spirituous liquors must be 
injurious to the race in producing effects destructive to 
the health, intelligence and long life. They accelerate 
and pollute all the fluids in the system, and by that re- 
action which is sure to follow, leave every muscle, and 
bones themselves, affected with disease. In a few years 
we see the whole man changed, his erect and manly form 
has assumed a swinish and beastly bearing, and so great 
is the change that the most familiar friend who has been 
absent, on being brought suddenly into his presence, 




THE GALLOWS ENDS ALL. 



From the cider-barrel, through the channel of strong rlrink until the gallows 
ends a career of crime. 

The temptations and delusions of this adversary of peace, the treacherous arts 
by which it natters us from the path of rectitude and the syren song by which it 
lures us into its foul embrace, surpass the powers of description. The cursed 
fascinating, fatal charm by which it binds the faculties, captivates the hearts, 
and perverts and paralyzes the understanding, is a matter of astonishment. 
Before the danger is discovered escape is hopeless and the willing victim irre- 
trievably lost. 

My mother's entreaties and warnings I neglected, the advice of friends I 
slighted. I visited saloons, I mingled with low, ill-bred, drunken society, and 
soon became a hardened criminal. The blood of my fellow man is upon my 
hand, and I must now expiate my crime upon the gallows, which ends a life of 
misery and crime, to which I am brought through the influence and effects of 
strong drink. 

O, beware! Youth and age, beware; it flatters you on, but all who drink it 
must inevitably sink down beneath its vital touch. 



THE CURSE OF RUM. 219 

scarcely knows him. Now, should we not reasonably 
suppose that that which affects the whole man or woman, 
must naturally affect embryonic existence? That the 
drunken father or mother must become the authors of 
a misf ormed progeny ? That there must be radical de- 
rangement in the functions of the brain and nerves 
themselves ? Most assuredly ; and to this cause alone is 
to be attributed, in some degree, the more irritable nerves 
and short life of the present race. 

Now with these facts before us, what hazard does the 
lady run who becomes associated with a drunken hus- 
band, of having her children, if not objects of disgust 
and deformity, yet, on account of seminal pollution, an 
irritable, brainless race, of low feelings and propensities, 
and, therefore, objects of pitiable compassion and for- 
bearance. Is the authority of such men as Gall, Cald- 
well, and Burton, all celebrated doctors, to be despised 
or held in disregard? Are these teachings of common 
sense not to be regarded? Are these matters of fact, ob- 
servation, and our experience to be condemned? AVe 
pity the beautiful and fascinating girl, the noble generous 
and refined lady, who has become associated with a hot- 
headed, foul-mouthed, beastly, drunken husband ; but 
we compassionate them still more at having to rear a set 
of simple, irritable and ungovernable children, as the 
legitimate fruit, the primogenital fruit, of a drunkard's 
love. For the sake of the race, the drinker of ardent 
spirits should be separated from the domestic bed and 



220 THE CCBSEOFKCH. 

board, and the wife, on establishing the fact of habitual 
intemperance, be entitled to a divorce. Maternal drunk- 
enness should condemn to perpetual celibacy, seclusion 
from all connubial endearment in the relationship of life. 
A drunken mother, a drunken father, a drunken husband, 
a drunken wife, are fountains of seminal pollution, ani a 
country's curse ! Flee from the inebriate, ye fair ones, 
as you would a deadly malaria, polluting equally the 
body and soul. Independent of a pernicious example, 
there is death poisoning the very fountain of human na- 
ture itself. The sins of parents are thus visited upon 
the children unto the third and fourth generation s. X 
system of education or grace itself, can eradicate this evil. 
The nervous, imbecile child will be nervous and idiotic 
still. Dr. Combe, in his " Constitution of Man," has an 
illustration of the laws of organic life, in the case of a 
young couple who, drunk with wine, spent the evening of 
their first and last interview in a licentious manner, and 
the fruit of their illicit intercourse was a drunken, idiotic 
child. Under all circumstances of this kind and all cas - 
of drunken parents, the children become wine-bibbers, 
and are more or less tainted with lunacy or idiocy- Dr. 
Gall believes drunkenness a hereditary cerebral disease 
and notices a family who, throughout three generations, 
were individually the victims of the vice. Burton, the 
greatest of all observers, in the Anatomy of Melancholy. 
says, "If a drunken man begets a child, it will nev r r 
likely have a good brain." 



THE CURSE OF RUM. 221 

Several years ago a highly respectable lady, well edu- 
cated and tenderly brought up, became attached to and 
married a young gentleman, at that time in commercial 
business and with fine prospects. They lived together 
for a time, happy and prosperously. An opportunity 
then offered and the husband was induced to visit the 
western country and became the proprietor of a hotel. 
While in this business he unfortunately became intemper- 
ate in his habits and so neglected his business that he was 
obliged finally to remove to another section of the coun- 
try. He again established himself in another hotel where, 
after a brief career, the fiend intemperance still dogging 
his footsteps, he was again compelled to sell out and re- 
move. His next location was still further west where a 
few friends once more re-established him, his wife cling- 
ing to him through all his vicissitudes with all the tenac- 
ity of a woman, and the faint but constantly beaming 
hope that he could yet reform and resuscitate his almost 
lifeless fortunes. For the third time, however, strong 
drink obtained the mastery. He was sold out and again 
compelled to try the south-west. He passed down the 
Ohio and Mississippi to New Orleans, his wife still cling- 
ing to him, and finally proceeded into Texas. Here he 
rallied for a little time, but the period was brief, for in- 
temperance and the climate, acting together, soon put an 
end to his earthly career. His poor wife at the time had 
two children with her, one a boy of three and a half 
years of age, the other an infant of only twelve months, 



--- tzzi :™.5i •:? 7.7::. 

izi i.:: :- iollir — Le:e~± :•: hj :irzi ::•>::. Her 5777- 
aiion was terrible indeed, especially when we remember 
_— ti:> rh:i.::::. £777.7 ~rir_rizi: 77. 17:; :_c :i:7'77 
fondness with which she clung, in every misf ortone, to 
her ever kind bnt misguided and ruined husband. Ap- 
;::::::.:: '--: ?:::::.:"_:<::. ■:. i~~ ;i:.:.::..^ :::;:^ -77:.7r:I 
a passage for the widow and her little family on board a 
5 :■:.<:•■: Lrr :•;■:.:: ::: r::./..^/::::,. ~'-^7 --"•■- : ^- : "- :: 
"::i: :. :7~ Loirs 77:1:7 :"ir 77:::~:7::77 — :7i;.7. :-vr:::nt 
by distress, anxiety of mind and the condition of her 
children, was seized with a violent fever, and died a 
raving maniac. Her little infant was torn from her 
777:7- 7isy -;::. iizzi-uLvr. 

The fate of the poor mother must indeed be lamented 
by every feeling heart. Her body was thrown into the 
sea and the little orphans are now in the care of friends 
who were acquainted with the mother in her girlhood 

Temperance is a lofty virtue ; it is a noble cause ; and 
let it be held in everlasting remembrance that intemper- 
ance is a most fatal and destructive vice. The tempta- 

:77s 777 7-7. 77:; 75 :: ills 77-7:7777 :: : .:: i:,::, ;i: 
treacherous art by which it natters us from the paths of 
rectitude, and the siren song by which it lores us into its 
foul embrace surpass the powers of description. The 
cirsri. -is :■■"_ 77:77. -:i:7_ :L;.:n \~ —_:;;. :: ":: ir_ ;I s :_r 
faculties, captivates the heart, and perverts and paralyzes 
the understanding, is a matter of the prof qundest aston- 



THE CURSE OF RDM. 223 

ishment. Before the clanger is discovered escape is hope- 
less, and the willing victim irretrievably lost. Floating 
gently down a smooth, delightful current toward the brink 
of a tremendous cataract, he sees no necessity of resist- 
ing its force, perceives not its increasing velocity, nor re- 
flects that he is approaching the danger. Every moment 
the power and inclination to resist diminish, while the 
danger is increased. The victim approaches, perceives 
the dashing, hears the roaring, and feels the trembling; 
the current is accelerated ; it becomes irresistible ; he is 
hurried to the brink ; the abyss yawns ; he is swallowed 
in the vortex and lost forever. 

Is the charm irresistible ? Does the malady admit of no 
cure ? Is the calamity inevitable ? Can nothing be done by 
the people to prevent it? Yes ; let them beware that they 
never countenance the manufacture or sale of ardent 
spirits by voting in its favor. This admonition is honest, 
faithful and reasonable. You will pardon my zeal, for 
it is in the cause of humanity. I am pleading for dis- 
consolate mothers, hapless orphans, and the broken- 
hearted and distracted wife. I come with the tears of 
disappointed love, and the anguish of the wounded heart. 
I plead in the name and behalf of suffering virtue, neg- 
lected and abandoned for revel and riot. I almost 
imagine as I write that I hear a voice from the dark and 
dismal mansions of the dead, saying ; i; Oh ! ye sons of 
dissipation and excess ! Ye prodigals who riot and wanton 
with the gifts of bounteous providence ! Come and be- 



224 THE CURSE OF itUM. 

hold the companions of your revels, the victims of your 
folly." See the father's pride and mother's joy snatched 
from their embrace and hurried along to an untimely 
grave. See the flower of youth and beauty shedding its 
fragrance and displaying its glory ; but ere the morning 
dew has escaped on the breeze it sickens, withers and 
dies. Here the object of virtuous affection ; there the 
promise of connubial bliss ; this the hope of his country, 
and that the encouragement and consolation of anxiety ; 
all poisoned by intemperance ; all doomed to a premature 
death. Look at the facts and be admonished. 

The following fact, as related by Prof. Sewall, is a 
warning to men who drink ardent spirits : 

" A man was taken up dead in the streets of London 
after having drank a great quantity of whiskey. He was 
carried to a hospital, (Westminster,) and dissected. In 
the ventricles of the brain was found a considerable 
quantity of limpid fluid, impregnated with whiskey, hav- 
ing both the sense of smell and taste, and even the test 
of inflammability. The liquid appeared as strong as one- 
third whiskey." 

What strong infatuation is it that tempts men to drink 
alcoholic liquors to excess, when facts, reason, nature and 
common sense are continually warning them of the inev- 
itable train of disasters and evils consequent therein ? 
When our senses warn us of the immediate danger of a 
precipice close at hand, have we not prudence to avoid it, 
clinging to life as we do with a cowardly tenacity? And 



THE CURSE OF RUM. 225 

when physicians demonstrate to us the poisonous, deadly 
influence of strong drink upon the system, and all experi- 
ences illustrate the truth, why have men not sense and 
consistency to forsake the miserably foolish indulgence of 
drinking poison. 

Above all, let me urge on those who would bring out 
and elevate their higher nature, to abstain from the use of 
spirituous liquors. This bad habit is distinguished from 
all others by the ravages it makes on the reason, the 
intellect ; and this effect is produced to a wonderful ex- 
tent, even when drunkenness is escaped. Not a few men 
called temperate, and who have called themselves such, 
have learned, on abstaining from the use of ardent spir- 
its, that for years their minds had been clouded, impaired 
by moderate drinking, without suspecting the injury. 
Multitudes in our cities are bereft of half their intellect- 
ual energy by a degree of indulgence which passes for 
innocent. Of all the foes of the working class, this is 
the most deadly. Nothing has done more to keep down 
this class, to destroy their self respect, to rob them of 
their just influence in the community, to render profitless 
the means of improvement within reach, than the use of 
ardent spirits as a drink. They are called on to with- 
stand this practice, as they regard their honor, and would 
take their just place in society. They are under solemn 
obligations to give their sanction to every effort for its 
suppression. The people ought to regard as the worst 
enemies of their rights, dignity and influence, the men 



226 THE CTJUSE OF RUM. 

who desire to flood the city and country with distilled 
poison ; making drunkards of men, paupers of their 
families, and the rum-seller the ruler of the nation. 

Familiarity with an evil disarms fear and begets care- 
lessness. If to-day the drink curse was an unknown 
thing, but to-morrow the blighting, withering touch of 
that bloody hand, intemperance, was to be felt, and 
reaching up from Hell, was to strike its deadly blow, 
the nation would mourn ! Every hearthstone in the land 
would be wet with tears of wives, mothers and children ; 
every home an altar from which heart-pleadings would 
ascend to Almighty God to stay the devilish work ! 

But, behold, for a moment : f stop and see! 

Who is this that comes in regal array ? 

Look at his jeweled crown, his glittering robe, the 
retinue of courtly followers and the army obeying his 
command with such precision ! "Hold ! who art thou, and 
by whose authority dost thou set up thy standard on this 
soil of peace, this beautiful land of ours, and why this 
armed host? 

••Sir I am a king, a potentate, and by the power of one 
who claims omnipotence — equality with God — I am com- 
missioned to come as an invader to stamp out its beauty 
and crush beneath my heel the sweet flowers whose fra- 
grance fills the air : and parallel with the health-giving 
streams issuing from your mountain-sides, I shall spread 
abroad, black stream, upon whose bosom shall ride the 
grim monster, death, and the waters of which, on either 



THE CURSE OF RUM. 227 

side shall blight and blast everything they touch ! Aye, 
and not this only, but I come to sow discord ; to create 
dissension ; to disrupt homes ; to separate husband and 
wife ; to teach children rebellion ; to make parents cruel ; 
to root out natural affection. I shall enter the bright and 
happy home and steal from the parent's side the joy of 
their life, and step by step I'll lead him on the downward 
path ! Now, look at him ; follow him if you will. See ; 
the companion of brawlers, the plaything of harlots ! Ha ! 
Ha ! He is in the toils ! look again. Hear the clinking of 
his money upon the gambler's table ; see the hands as 
they deal the cards ; watch the shadows as they play upon 
his face, and the cold, stony stare of his eye reveals the 
art by which I have transformed this innocent boy into a 
man of utter heartlessness. A thief ! Oh, yes, the de- 
scent is an easy one. You see, it is down ! Down ! 
Down ! Hear the mother cry, 'Oh, my God, give me 
back my boy' ! It will avail her not. Mercy is not in my 
hand. I only deal out death and damnation. Was that 
a pistol shot? Yes; I have led him on. He became a 
puppet in my hands. I have moulded and shaped him to 
my will, and kicked him about like a football. You will 
find him to-day in a murderer's cell. See him sink into 
the corner. Is it a hideous dream of the past, a horrible 
nightmare ? No, no, it is pitiless reality. Now he sees the 
different steps were but the milestones along the pathway 
of life, and he awaits the swiftly- approaching to-morrow 
when his life shall pay the forfeit on the scaffold. Now, 



228 THE CURSE OF RUM. 

let his broken-hearted mother die, his loving sister hang 
her head in shame, his gray-haired father walking in 
sorrow to the grave and cursing the day when God gave 
him the boy. This is not all. All over the land the wail 
of the widow shall be heard, and the pattering of the little 
feet on the floors of your orphan asylums shall witness 
my work, and the eight hundred thousand homes in your 
beautiful land which know not the meaning of the word 
home, shall testify of my strength and my hate, backed 
by my supporters, who say by their ballots that I am king. 
I shall rule, and my subjects must suffer! The agencies I 
put into the field shall be such that your jails, prisons and 
scaffolds will be the monuments erected in honor of the 
victories won by me and my allies. I shall enter the 
brain — the temple of thought — and cause man to become 
like a laughing hyena, and the insane asylums shall be 
filled with those I have singled out as my victims. Yes, 
let them rave and howl. I have let pandemonium loose 
and here in your lunatic retreats I have set up the 
throne of his satanic majesty. Think you I stop here? 
No ! Day and night the voice shall roll on. Leaden may 
be the fall of my foot, but it shall crush with the heel of 
iron. The poison in my cup shall be poured over the 
land and while the wail of woe is heard in every breeze, 
while the echo of the maniac's laugh resounds through the 
corridors of his cell-room and the felon's groan is 
smothered within the prison's walls, satan's imps shall 
chuckle and make the pit of hell reverberate with de- 



THE CURSE OF RUM. 229 

moniacal glee over the thousands I send to the gallows, 
and while you sing the song whose volume you think will 
reach the throne of the Eternal, 'peace on earth and good 
will to all men,' I will answer back, it is a lie ! For, be- 
hold ! The glimmering blade, your ballots, is crimson 
with human gore, and while these men struggle in the 
clutch of death, their souls are swung into eternity. How, 
say you, shall they pass the pearly gates into paradise ? 
Now, hear the voice of command : Forward ! My army is 
in motion. Like the fields of golden grain falling before 
the scythe of the mower, so fall human victims before my 
conquering ranks. They go down by scores, by hundreds, 
by thousands. Trample them down ; crush out their 
struggle for life ; stay not the tide of blood ; laugh at 
their groans ; mock at their prayers ; stifle their cry for 
deliverance. See them fall ! Let the nation mourn, let 
hearts break, and people go mad ; my hand shall not rest 
uor grow weary, nor my sword be put in its scabbard, 
for the annual harvest of eighty thousand souls must be 
gathered to feed the flames of hell." 

Friends, this is the mission of King Alcohol, the pro- 
lific progenitor of all evil passions, the scorpion of de- 
struction sounding its trumpet calling its hosts to ruin 
and death ! "I am your leader ! Your king ! I rule ! And 
you must submit." 

If you wish to know who is the most degraded and the 
most wretched of human beings, look for a man who has 
practiced this vice so long that he curses it and clings to 



230 THE CURSE OF RUM. 

it ; that he pursues it because he feels an evil spirit driving 
hiru on towards it, but, reaching it, knows its cruel sting, 
and cowardly and sneakishly edges his way to the bar, 
begging in a fit of despair for one more drink. u One 
glass more and I am done !" Beware of this once. It 
has led thousands to ruin. 

With a parting farewell, I hope to hear in your future 
reply the sound of your voices as one through the ballot- 
box, that the echo may reach the eternal dome of high 
Heaven, that rum has met its everlasting fall, and the 
banner of freedom floats over every American home. 

We shall now give our attention for a few moments to 
those who are indolent in political matters, for fear of of- 
fending their political opponents, who are paying mem- 
bers of their business. We wish to call the attention of 
those who think they should hold themselves aloof from 
the great political question of the day, such as clergy- 
men, merchants, mechanics and others, who seek to 
please those upon whom they are dependent in business 
transactions, who, as a rule, belong to different political 
factions. We often hear them say, "It is not policy for 
me to dabble in politics because my customers would take 
exceptions and go elsewhere to get their work done." 
Or the clergyman will say, " My flock is divided in their 
views ; it will not do to offend either ; they are paying 
members and I deem it best to keep rather quiet and say 
as little about the matter as possible. Of course, the 
flock is of different opinions, and I must have white wool 



THE CURSE OF ROf. 231 

and I must have black wool and I must have wool of a 
different shade, or my supply will be scant; sol must 
keep in the dark as to which I need the most. I believe 
in temperance, but it is policy for me to say but little 
upon the subject. I will pray, loud and long, for God 
to banish the evil from the land, but, oh, my party ex- 
pects me to vote with them until the temperance party 
gets strong enough to carry their point ; then will be time 
for me to join their party." 

Reader, reflect a moment, and consider that it is the 
ballot that rules our nation, and the rum-power is putting 
forth every effort in their power and are building a mo- 
noply, a power in politics, that is morally ruining the 
nation and plunging it into dissipation and crime. Re- 
member that indolence in politics is akin to treachery, 
as the selfish indolence of good men furnishes the most 
effective opportunity for ambitious bad men to accomplish 
their nefarious purposes. The indolence of good men and 
the treachery of bad men are equally dangerous, and un- 
less both are finally overcome by the awakened intelli- 
gence and virtue of the people, either the ravages of an- 
archy or the enthronement of despotism is inevitable. 
All intelligent citizens, while enjoying the protection of 
law and the numerous benefits of our christian civilization, 
surrounded with the comforts of a home, enjoying the 
assured security of their lives and property, with the flag 
of their own country, as the emblem of liberty, justice 
and patriotism, floating over them, ought to be willing 



232 THE CURSE OF RUM. 

and even anxious to bear their share of the public burdens 
by giving their attention to its political character and 
stability ; but by shirking behind their professions of 
sympathy or the selfish position of non-partisan, and in 
this way lazily and cowardly neglecting their legal rights 
and political obligations, more especially when great moral 
questions are before the people for settlement, they be- 
come craven traitors to their country ; and those who love 
their homes and American institutions, with an honest 
indignation ought to shame and frown on these delinquent, 
lazy cowards as dead-beats in our body politic, whose 
example and influence are misleading and disheartening, 
and, like the deadly upas tree, insidiously invite and con- 
tribute to the death and destruction of all that is good, 
true, and beautiful in our government." 
*Tis sad to reflect, — 
The dark waters have closed over me , but out of the 
black depths of despair, could I be heard, I would cry 
out to all those who have but set a foot in the perilous 
stream : "The death of the drunkard is a sad one. There 
is no comfort on that dying pillow ; no sweet repose ; no 
voice of friendship, bidding adieu ; no lighting up of joy 
in the departing spirit ; no smiles of satisfaction, ex- 
pressive of a happy future ; no anticipation of bright angels 
bearing the departing spirit to fields of sunshine, where 
no dark storm-clouds ever enter ; no chilling winds, or 
cruel frosts to blight the tender flower. But the dark 
shadow of despair has taken the place of the smile and 



THE CURSE OF RUM. 233 

tells unmistakably, there is no peace. Every wife, and 
child of the drunkard is calling in tones of pity ; their 
appeals, coming from bleeding hearts through long suffer- 
ing, extreme poverty, and abuse, appealing to the man- 
hood of true Americans to wage war against the traffic 
in the deadly poison, that is unmistakably the curse of 
the country and the ruin of thousands of its talented 
geniuses. And let me say, kind reader, there are 
thousands of widowed mothers and orphans who have 
been made victims of misery through the cruel effects of 
strong drink, whose sufferings and poverty is speaking 
in thunder- tones, appealing to every lover of peace to fly 
to the rescue of the thousands that are ready to follow in 
the wake of the many stranded wrecks. 



CHAPTEE XVII. 



Supreme Court of the United States. 

Numbers 19, 20 and 934.— October Term, 1887. 

Peter Mugler, Plaintiff in Error, ~) In Error to the Sn- 
No. J 9. vs. > pre me Court of the 

The State of Kansas. ) State of Kansas. 

Peter Mugler, Plaintiff in Erior. ^ In Error to the Su- 
No. 20. vs. V preme Court of the 

The State of Kansas. j State of Kansas. 



The State of Kansas, ex rel. 
J. F. Tufts, Assistant Attorney- 
General of the State of Kansas, 
for Atchison County Kansas, Ap- 



Appeal From 
the Circuit Court 



pellant. ^ of the United States 

No. 934. vs. 

Herman Ziebold and Joseph 

Hagelin, partners as Ziebold & 

Hagelin. 



for the 
District of Kansas. 



(December 5, 1887.) 
Mr. Justice Harlin delivered the opinion of the Court. 
These cases involve an inquiry into the validity of cer- 



THE CURSE OF RUM. 235 

tain statutes of Kansas relating to the manufacture and 
sale of intoxicating liquor. The first two indictments, 
charging Mugler, the plaintiff in error, in one case, with 
having sold, and in the other, with having manufactured 
spirituous, vinous, malt, fermented, and other intoxicat- 
ing liquors in Saline County, Kansas, without having the 
license or permit required by the statute. The defend- 
ant, having been found guilty, was fined, in each case, 
one hundred dollars, and ordered to be committed to the 
county jail until the fine was paid. Each judgment was 
affirmed by the Supreme Court of Kansas, and thereby, 
it is contended, the defendant was denied rights, privi- 
leges, and immunities guaranteed by the constitution of 
the United States. 

The third case — Kansas vs. Ziebold and Hagelin — was 
commenced by petition filed in one of the courts of the 
State. The relief sought is: 1. That the group of 
buildings in Atchison County, Kansas, constituting the 
brewery of the defendants, partners as Ziebold & Hage- 
lin, be adjudged a public nuisance, and the Sheriff or 
other proper officers be directed to shut up and abate the 
same. 2. That the defendants be enjoined from using, 
or permitting to be used, the said premises as a place 
where intoxicating liquors maybe sold, bartered or given 
away, or kept for barter, sale or gift, otherwise than by 
authority of the law. 

The defendants answered, denying the allegations of 
the petition, and averring: First. That said buildings 



236 THE CURSE OF RUM. 

were erected by them prior to the adoption by the people 
of the State of the constitutional amendment prohibiting 
the manufacture and sale of intoxicating liquors for other 
than medicinal, scientific and mechanical purposes, and 
before the passage of the prohibitory liquor statute of 
that State. Second. That they were erected for the 
purpose of manufacturing beer and cannot be put to any 
other use ; and if not so used, they will be of little value. 
Third. That the statute under which said suit was brought 
is void under the fourteenth amendment of the Constitu- 
tion of the United States. 

Upon the petition and bond of the defendants the cause 
was removed into the Circuit Court of the United States 
for the district of Kansas, upon the ground that the suit 
was one arising under the Constitution of the United 
States. 

A motion to remand it to the State Court was denied. 
The pleadings were recast so as to conform to the equity 
practice in the courts of the United States ; and, the 
cause having been heard upon bill and answer, the suit 
was dismissed. From that decree the State prosecutes 
the appeal. By a statute of Kansas, approved March 3, 
1868, it was made a misdemeanor, punishable by fine or 
imprisonment, for any one, directly or indirectly, to sell 
spirituous, vinous, fermented, or other intoxicating 
liquors, without having a dram-shop, tavern, or grocery 
license. It was also enacted, among other things, that 
every place where intoxicating liquors were sold in vio- 



THE CURSE OF RUM. 237 

lation of the statute should be taken, held, and deemed 
a common nuisance ; and it was required that all rooms, 
taverns, eating-houses, bazaars, restaurants, groceries, 
coffee-houses, cellars or other places of public resort, where 
intoxicating liquors were sold in violation of law, should 
be abated as public nuisances. Gen. Stat., Kansas, 
1868, Chap. 35. 

But, in 1880, the people of Kansas adopted a more 
stringent policy. On the second of November of that 
year, they ratified an amendment to the State constitu- 
tion, which declared that the manufacture and sale of 
intoxicating liquors should be forever prohibited in the 
State, except for medical, scientific and mechanical pur- 
poses. 

In order to give effect to the amendment, the legislature 
repealed the act of 1868, and passed an act, approved 
February 19, 1881, to take effect May 1, 1881, entitled 
u An act to prohibit the manufacture and sale of intoxi- 
cating liquors, except for medicinal, scientific and me- 
chanical purposes, and to regulate the manufacture there- 
of for such excepted purposes." Its first section pro- 
vides " That any person or persons who shall manufac- 
ture, sell, or barter any spirituous, malt, vinous, fermented 
or other intoxicating liquors, shall be guilty of a misde- 
meanor ; provided, however, that such liquors may be 
sold for medical, scientific and mechanical purposes, as 
provided in this act." The second section makes it un- 
lawful for any person to sell or barter for either of such 



238 THE CURSE OF RUM. 

excepted purposes any malt, vinous, spirituous, ferment- 
ed , or other intoxicating liquors without having procured 
a druggist's permit therefor, and prescribes the conditions 
upon which such permit may be granted. The third sec- 
tion relates to the giving by physicians of prescriptions 
for intoxicating liquors to be used by their patients, and 
fourth, to the sale of such liquors by druggists. The 
fifth section forbids any person from manufacturing, or 
assisting in the manufacture of intoxicating liquors in the 
State, except for medical, scientific and mechanical pur- 
poses, and makes provision for the granting of licenses 
to engage in the business of manufacturing liquors for 
such excepted purposes. The seventh section declares it 
to be a misdemeanor for any person, not having the re- 
quired permit, to sell or barter, directly or indirectly, 
spirituous, malt, vinous, fermented or other intoxicating 
liquors ; the punishment prescribed being, for the first 
offense, a fine of not less than one hundred nor more 
than five hundred dollars, or imprisonment in the county 
jail not less than twenty nor more than ninety days ; for 
the second offense,, a fine of not less than two hundred 
nor more than five hundred dollars, or imprisonment in 
the county jail not less than sixty days nor more than six 
months ; and for every subsequent offense, a fine of not 
less than five hundred nor more than one thousand dol- 
lars, or imprisonment in the county jail not less than three 
months nor more than one year, or both such fine and 
imprisonment, at the descretion of the court. 



THE CURSE OF RUM. 239 

The eighth section provides for similar fines and pun- 
ishments' against persons who manufacture, or aid, assist 
or abet the manufacture of any intoxicating liquors with- 
out having the required permit. 

The thirteenth section declares, among other things, 
all places where intoxicating liquors are manufactured, 
sold, bartered or given away, or kept for sale, barter, or 
use, in violation of the act, to be common nuisances; 
and provides that upon the judgment of any court having 
jurisdiction finding such place to be a nuisance, the proper 
officer shall be directed to shut up and abate the same. 
Under that statute, the prosecutions against Mugler were 
instituted. It contains other sections in addition to those 
above referred to ; but as they embody merely the details 
of the general scheme adopted by the State for the pro- 
hibition of the manufacture and sale of intoxicating 
liquors, except for the purposes specified, it is unneces- 
sary to set them out. On the 7th of March, 1885, the 
legislature passed an act amendatory and suplementary to 
that of 1881. The thirteenth section of the former act, 
being the one upon which the suit against Ziebold & 
Hagelin is founded, will be given in full in a subsequent 
part of this opinion. The facts necessary to a clear un- 
derstanding of the questions, common to these cases, are 
the following : Mugler and Ziebold & Hagelin were en- 
gaged in manufacturing beer at their respective establish- 
ments, (constructed specially for that purpose,) for sev- 
eral years prior to the adoption of the constitutional 



240 THE CURSE OF RUM. 

amendment of 1880. They continued in such 
business in defiance of the statute of 188-1, and 
without having the required permit. Nor did Mugler 
have a license or permit to sell beer. The single sale of 
which he was found guilty occurred in the State, and after 
May 1, 1881, that is after the act of February 19, 1881, 
took effect, and was of beer manufactured before its pas- 
sage. The buildings and machinery constituting these 
breweries are of little value if not used for the purpose 
of manufacturing beer ; that is to say that if the statutes 
are enforced against the defendants the value of their 
property will be very materially diminished. 

The general question in each case is, whether the fore- 
going statutes of Kansas are in conflict with that clause 
of the fourteenth amendment, which provides that ' 6 no 
State shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge 
the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United 
States, nor shall any State deprive any person of life, 
liberty or property without due process of law." That 
legislation by a State prohibiting the manufacture within 
her limits of intoxicating liquors, to be there sold or bar- 
tered for general use as a beverage, does not necessarily 
infringe any right, privilege or immunity secured by the 
constitution of the United States, is made clear by the 
decisions of this court, rendered before and since the 
adoption of the fourteenth amendment ; to some of which, 
in view of questions to be presently considered, it will be 
well to refer. In the License Cases, 5, How, 504, the 



THE CURSE OF RUM. 241 

question was, whether certain statutes of Masssachu setts, 
Rhode Island and New Hampshire, relating to the sale 
of spirituous liquors, were repugnant to the constitution 
of the United States. 

In determining that question, it became necessary to 
inquire whether there was any conflict between the exercise 
by Congress of its power to regulate commerce with 
foreign countries, or among the several States, and the 
exercise by a State of what are called police powers. 
Although the members of the court did not fully agree as 
to the grounds upon which the decision should be placed, 
they were unanimous in holding that the statutes then 
under examination were not inconsistent with the Con- 
stitution of the United States, or with any act of Congress. 
Chief Justice Taney said : "If any State deems the retail 
and internal traffic in ardent spirits injurious to its citizens, 
and calculated to produce idleness, vice, or debaucheiy, 
I see nothing in the Constitution of the United States to 
prevent it from regulating and restraining the traffic, or 
from prohibiting it altogether, if it thinks proper." Mr. 
Justice McLean among other things, said: "A State 
regulates its domestic commerce, contracts, the trans- 
mission of estates, real and personal, and acts upon 
internal matters which relate to its moral and political 
welfare. Over these subjects the federal government has 
no power. The acknowledged police power of a State 
extends often to destruction of property. A nuisance 
may be abated. Everything prejudicial to the health or 



242 THE CURSE OF RUM. 

morals of a city may be removed." Mr. Justice Wood- 
bury observed, "How can they (the States) be sovereign 
within their respective spheres, without power to regulate 
all their internal commerce, as well as police, and direct 
how, when and where it shall be conducted in articles 
intimately connected either with public morals or public 
safety or public prosperity?" Mr. Justice Grier, in still 
more emphatic language, said: "The true question 
presented by these cases, and one which I am not disposed 
to evade, is whether the States have a right to prohibit 
the sale and consumption of an article of commerce which 
they believe to be pernicious in its effects, and the 
cause of disease, pauperism, and crime. * * * With- 
out attempting to define what are the peculiar subjects or 
limits of this power, it may safely be affirmed, that every 
law for the restraint or punishment of crime, for the 
preservation of the public peace, health, and morals, must 
come within this category. * * * * It is not nec- 
essary, for the sake of justifying the State legislation now 
under consideration, to array the appalling statistics of 

misery, pauperism, and crime which have their origin in 
the use or abuse of ardent spirits. The police power, 
which is exclusively in the States, is alone competent to 
the correction of these great evils, and all measures of 
restraint or prohibition necessary to effect the purpose are 
within the scope of that authority." 

In Bartemeyer vs. Iowa, 18 Wall. 129, it was said that 
prior to the adoption of the Fourteenth Amendment, 



THE CURSE OF RUM. 243 

State enactments regulating or prohibiting the traffic in 
intoxicating liquors raised no question under the Con- 
stitution of the United States ; and that such legislation 
was left to the discretion of the respective States, subject 
to no other limitations than those imposed by their own 
constitutions or by the general principles supposed to 
limit all legislative power. Referring to the contention that 
the right to sell intoxicating liquors was secured by the 
Fourteenth Amendment, the court said that, "So far as 
such a right exists, it is not one of rights growing out of 
citizenship of the United States." In Beer Co. vs. Mas- 
sachusetts, 97 U. S. 33, it was said, that, "as a measure 
of police regulation, looking to the preservation of public 
morals, a State law prohibiting the manufacture and sale 
of intoxicating liquors is not repugnant to any clause of 
the Constitution of the United States." Finally, in Foster 
vs. Kansas, 112 U. S. 206, the court said that the 
question as to the constitutional power of a State to pro- 
hibit the manufacture and sale of intoxicating liquors was 
no longer an open one in this court. These cases rest 
upon the acknowledged right of the States of the Union 
to control their purely internal affairs, and, in so doing, 
to protect the health, morals, and safety of their people 
by regulations that do not interfere with the execution of 
the powers of the general government, or violate the 
rights secured by the Constitution of the United States. 

The power to establish such regulations, as was said in 
Gibbons vs. Ogden, 9, Wheat. 203, reaches everything 



244 THE CURSE OF RUM. 

within the territory of a State not surrendered to the 
national government. It is, however, contended that, 
although the State may prohibit the manufacture of 
intoxicating liquors for sale or barter within her limits, 
for general use, as a beverage, "no convention or legisla- 
ture has the right, under our form of government, to 
prohibit any citizen from manufacturing for his own 
use or for export, or storage, any article of food 
or drink not endangering or effecting the rights of 
others." The argument in support of the first branch of 
this proposition, briefly stated, is, that in the implied 
compact between the State and the citizen certain rights 
are reserved by the latter, which are guaranteed by the 
constitutional provision protecting persons against being 
deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process 
of law, and with which the State cannot interfere ; that 
among those rights is that of manufacturing for one's use 
either food or drink ; and that while, according to the 
doctrines of commerce, the State may control the tastes, 
appetites, habits, dress, food and drink of the people, our 
system of government, based upon the individuality and 
intelligence of the citizen, does not claim to control him, 
except as to his conduct to others, leaving him the sole 
judge as to all that only affects himself. 

It will be observed that the proposition, and the argu- 
ment made in support of it, equally concede that the right 
to manufacture drink for one's personal use is subject to 
the condition that such manufacture does not endanger or 
affect the rights of others. 



THE CURSE OF RUM. 245 

If such manufacture does prejudicially affect the rights 
and interests of the community, it follows, from the very 
premises stated, that society has the power to protect 
itself, by legislation, against the injurious consequences 
of that business. 

As was said in Munn vs. Illinois, 94 U. S. 124, while 
power does not exist with the whole people to control 
rights that are purely and exclusively private, government 
may require "each citizen to so conduct himself, and so 
use his own property, as not unnecessarily to injure 
another." 

But by whom, or by what authority, is it to be deter- 
mined whether the manufacture of particular articles of 
drink, either for general use or for the personal use of the 
maker, will injuriously affect the public ? 

Power to determine such questions so as to find all, 
must exist somewhere, else society will be at the mercy 
of the few, who, regarding only their own appetites or 
passions, may be willing to imperil the peace and security 
of the many, provided only they are permitted to do so as 
they please. Under our system that power is lodged with 
the legislative branch of the government. It belongs to 
that department to exert what are known as the police 
powers of the State, and to determine, primarily, what 
measures are appropriate or needful for the protection of 
the public morals, the public health, or the public safety. 
It does not at all follow that every statute enacted 
ostensibly for the promotion of these ends, is to be ac- 



246 THE CUKSE OF RUM. 

cepted as a legitimate exertion of the police powers of the 
State. There are, of necessity, limits beyond which 
legislation cannot rightfully go. While every possible 
p resumption is to be indulged in favor of validity of a 
statute, (Sinking Fund Cases, 09 U. S. 718,) the courts 
must obey the constitution rather than law-making de- 
partments of the government, and must, upon their own 
responsibility, determine whether, in any particular case, 
these limits have been passed. u To what purpose," it 
was said in Marbury vs. Madison, 1 Cranch, 137, 167, 
"are they limited, and to what purpose is that limitation 
committed to writing, if these limits may, at any time, be 
passed by those intended to be restrained ? 

The distinction between a government with limited and 
unlimited powers is abolished, if those limits do not con- 
fine the persons on whom they are imposed, and if acts 
prohibited and acts allowed are of equal obligation." 
The courts are not bound by mere forms, nor are they to 
be misled by mere pretenses. They are at liberty — in- 
deed, are under a solemn duty — to look at the substance 
of things, whenever they enter upon the inquiry whether 
the legislature has transcended the limits of its authority. 
If, therefore, a statute purporting to have been enacted to 
protect the public health, the public morals, or the public 
safety, has no real or substantial relation to those objects 
or is palpable invasion of rights secured by the funda- 
mental law, it is the duty of the courts to so adjudge, 
and thereby give effect to the constitution. 



THE CURSE OF .RUM. 247 

Keeping in view these principles, as governing the 
relations of the judicial and legislative departments of 
government with each other, it is difficult to perceive 
any ground for the judiciary to declare that the prohibi- 
tion by Kansas of the manufacture or sale, within her 
limits, of intoxicating liquors for general use there as a 
beverage, is not fairly adapted to the end of protecting 
the community against the evils which confessedly result 
from the excessive use of ardent spirits. 

There is no justification for holding that the State, 
under the guise merely of police regulations, is aiming 
to deprive the citizen of his constitutional rights ; for 
we cannot shut out of view the fact, within the knowl- 
edge of all, that the public health, the public morals, and 
the public safety may be endangered by the general use 
of intoxicating drinks ; nor the fact, established by sta- 
tistics accessible to every one, that the idleness, disorder, 
pauperism and crime existing in the country are, in some 
degree at least, traceable to this evil. If, therefore, a 
State deems the absolute prohibition of the manufac- 
ture and sale, within her limits, of intoxicating liquors for 
other than medical, scientific, and manufacturing pur- 
poses, to be necessary to the peace and security of socie- 
ty, the courts cannot, without usurping legislative func- 
tions, override the will of the people as thus expressed 
by their chosen representatives. They have nothing to 
do with the mere policy of legislation. Indeed, it is a 
fundamental principle in our institutions, indispensable 



248 THE CURSE OP RUM. 

to the preservation of public liberty, that one of the 
separate departments of government shall not usurp 
powers committed by the constitution to another depart- 
ment. And so, if, in the judgment of the legislature, 
the manufacture of intoxicating liquors for the maker's 
own use, as a beverage, would tend to cripple, if it did 
not defeat the effort to guard the community against the 
evils attending the excessive use of such liquors, it is not 
for the courts, upon their views as to what is best and 
safest for the community, to disregard the legislative de- 
termination of that question. So far from such a regu- 
lation having no relation to the general end sought td be 
accomplished, the entire scheme of prohibition, as em- 
bodied in the constitution and laws of Kansas, might 
fail, if the right of each citizen to manufacture intoxi- 
cating liquors for his own use as a beverage were recog- 
nized. Such a right does not inhere in citizenship. 

Nor can it be said that government interferes with or 
impairs any one's constitutional rights of liberty or of 
property when it determines that the manufacture and 
sale of intoxicating drinks, for the general or individual 
use, as a beverage, are, or may become, hurtful to society 
and constitute, therefore, a business in which no one may 
lawfully engage. These rights are best secured, in our 
government, by the observance, upon the part of all, of 
such regulations as are established by competent author- 
ity to promote the common good. No one may right- 
fully do that which the law-making power, upon reasona- 



THE CURSE OP RUM. 249 

ble grounds, declares to be prejudicial to the general 
welfare. This conclusion is unavoidable, unless the Four- 
teenth Amendment of the constitution takes from the 
States of the Union those powers of police that were 
reserved at the time the original constitution was adopted. 
But this court has declared, upon full consideration, in 
Barber vs. Connelly, 118 U. S. 31, that the Fourteenth 
Amendment had no such effect. After observing, among 
other things, that that amendment forbade the arbitrary 
deprivation of life and liberty and the arbitrary spoli- 
ation of property and secured equal protection to all 
under like circumstances, in respect as well to their per- 
sonal and civil rights as to their acquisition and enjoy- 
ment of property, the court said: "But neither the 
amendment — broad and comprehensive as it is— nor any 
other amendment, was designed to interfere with the 
power of the State, sometimes termed its police powers, 
to prescribe regulations to promote health, peace, morals, 
education, and good order of the people, and to legislate 
so as to increase the industries of the State, develop its 
resources, and add to its wealth and prosperity." Un- 
doubtedly the State, when providing by legislation for the 
protection of the public health, public morals, or public 
safety, is subject to the paramount authority of the con- 
stitution of the United States, and may not violate rights 
secured or guaranteed by that instrument, or interfere 
with the execution of the powers confided to the general 
government. Henderson v. Mayor of New York, 92 U. 



250 THE CURSE OF HUM. 

S. 259 ; Railroad Co. v. Husen, 95 Id. 465 ; New Orleans 
Gas Light Co. v. Louisiana Light Co., 115 Id. 650; 
AYalling v. Michigan, 116 Id. 446 ; Tick Wo v. Hopkins, 
118 Id. 356 ; Morgan's Steamship Co. V.Louisiana Board 
of Health, Id. 455. 

Upon this ground — if we do not misapprehend the posi- 
tion of defendants — it is contended that, as the primary 
and principal use of beer is as a beverage ; as their re- 
spective breweries were erected when it was lawful to 
engage in the manufacture of beer for every purpose ; as 
such establishments will become of no value as property, 
or, at least, will be materially diminished in value if not 
employed in the manufacture of beer for every purpose, 
the prohibition upon their being so employed is, in effect, 
a taking of property for public use without compensation, 
and depriving the citizen of his property without due 
process of law. In other words, although the State, in 
exercise of her police powers, may lawfully prohibit the 
manufacture and sale, within her limits, of intoxicating 
liquors to be used as a beverage, legislation having that 
object in view cannot be enforced against those who at 
the time, happened to own property the chief value of 
which is fitness for such manufacturing purposes, unless 
compensation is first made for the deminution in value of 
their property, resulting from such prohibitory enact- 
ments. This interpretation of the Fourteenth Amend- 
ment is inadmissible. It cannot be supposed that the 
States intended by adopting that amendment to impose 



THE CmtSE OF RUM. 251 

restraints upon the exercise of their powers for the pro- 
tection of the safety, health, or morals of the community. 
In respect to contracts, the obligations of which are 
protected against hostile State legislation, this court in 
Butchers' Union Co. vs. Crescent City Co., Ill U. S., 
751, said that the State could not, by any contract, limit 
the exercise of her power to the prejudice of the public 
health and the public morals. So in Stone vs. Mississippi 
101 U. S., 816, wiiere the constitution was invoked 
against the repeal by the State of a charter granted to a 
private corporation to conduct a lottery, and for which 
that corporation paid to the State a valuable consideration 
in money, the court said: " No legislature can bargain 
away the public morals. The people themselves cannot 
do it, much less their servants * * * Government is 
organized with a view to their preservation, and cannot 
divest itself of its power to provide for them." Again, 
in New Orleans Gas Co. vs. Louisana Light Co., 115 U. 
S. 650, 672 : " The constitutional prohibition upon State 
laws impairing the obligation of contracts does not restrict 
the power of the State to protect the public health, the 
public morals, or the public safety, as the one or the 
other may be involved in the execution of such contracts. 
Rights and privileges arising from contracts with a State 
are subject to regulations for the protection of the public 
health, the public morals, and the public safety in the 
same sense and to the same extent as are all contracts and 
all property, whether owned by natural persons or corpo- 
rations. " 



252 THE CTTRSE OF HUM. 

The principle that no person shall be deprived of life, 
liberty or property, without due process of law, was em- 
bodied, in substance, in the constitutions of nearly all, if 
not all, of the States at the time of the adoption of the 
Fourteenth Amendment ; and it has never been regarded 
as incompatible with the principle, equally vital, because 
essential to the peace and safety of society, that all 
property in this country is held under the implied obliga- 
tion that the owner's use of it shall not be injurious to the 
community. Beer Co. vs. Mass., 97 U. S. 32 ; Common- 
wealth vs. Alger, 7 Cush. 53. An illustration of this 
doctrine is afforded by Patterson vs. Kentucky, 97 U. S. 
501. The question there was as to the validity of a stat- 
ute of Kentucky, enacted in 1874, imposing a penalty 
upon any one selling, or offering for sale, oils and fluids, 
the product of coal, petroleum, or other bituminous sub- 
stances which would burn or ignite at at a temperature be- 
low 130 ° Fahrenheit. Patterson having sold within that 
commonwealth a certain oil, for which letters-patent were 
issued in 1867, but which did not come up to the stand- 
ard required by said statute, and having been indicted 
therefor, disputed the State's authority to prevent or ob- 
struct the exercise of that right. The court upheld the 
legislation of Kentucky upon the ground, that while the 
State could not impair the exclusive right of the patentee 
or of his assignee in the discovery described in letters- 
patent, the tangible property, the fruit of the discovery, 
was not beyond control in the exercise of her police 



THE CURSE OF RUM. 253 

powers. It was said : By the settled doctrines of this 
court the police power extends, at least, to the protection 
of the lives, the health, and the property of the commun- 
ity against the injurious exercise by any citizen of his own 
rights. State legislation, strictly and legitimately for po- 
lice purposes, does not, in the sense of the constitution, 
intrench upon any authority which has been confided, ex- 
pressly or by implication, to the national government. 
The Kentucky statute under examination manifestly be- 
longs to that class of legislation. It is, in the best sense, 
a mere police legislation, deemed essential to the protec- 
tion of the lives and property of our citizens." Referring 
to the numerous decisions of this court guarding the 
power of Congress to regulate commerce against en- 
croachment under the guise of State regulations, estab- 
lished for the purpose and with the effect of destroying 
or impairing rights secured by the constitution, it is fur- 
ther said : "It has, nevertheless, with marked distinct- 
ness and uniformity, recognized the necessity growing 
out of the fundamental conditions of civil so- 
ciety, of upholding State police regulations, which were 
enacted in good faith and had appropriate and direct con- 
nection with that protection to life, health and property, 
which each State owes to her citizens." See also United 
States vs. Dewitt, 9 Wall, 41 ; License Tax cases, 5 Id. 462. 
Pervear vs. Commonwealth, Id. 475. Another decision, 
very much in point upon this branch of the case, is 



254 the curse op rum/ 

Fertilizing Co. vs. Hyde Park, 97 U. S. 659, 667, also 
decided after the adoption of the Fourteenth Amendment. 
The court there sustained the validity of an ordinance of 
the village of Hyde Park, in Cook County, Illinois, passed 
under legislative authority, forbidding any person from 
transporting through that village offal or other offensive 
or unwholesome matter, or from maintaining or carrying 
on an offensive or unwholesome business or establishment 
within its limits. The Fertilizing Company had, at large 
expense, and under authority expressly conferred by its 
charter, located its works at a particular point in the 
country. Besides, the charter of the village, at the time, 
provided that it should not interfere with parties engaged 
in the transporting animal matter from Chicago, or from 
manufacturing it into a fertilizer or other chemical pro- 
duct. The enforcement of the ordinance in question 
operated to destroy the business of the company and 
seriously to impair the value of its property. As, how- 
ever, its business had become a nuisance to the community 
in which it was conducted, producing discomfort, and 
often sickness, among large masses of people the court 
maintained the authority of the village, acting under 
legislative sanction, to protect the public health against 
such nuisance. It said : ' 'We cannot doubt that the police 
power of the State was applicable and adequate to give an 
effectual remedy. 

That power belonged to the States when the federal 
constitution was adopted. They did not surrender it, and 



THE CURSE OF RUM. 255 

they all have it now. It extends to the entire property 
and business within their local jurisdiction. Both are 
subject to it in all proper cases. It rests upon the funda- 
mental principle that every one shall so use his own as not 
to wrong and injure another. To regulate and abate 
nuisances is one of its ordinary functions." It is supposed 
by defendants that the doctrine for which they contend is 
sustained by Fumpelly vs. Green Bay Co., 13 Wall. 168. 
But in that view we do not concur. That was an action 
for the recovery of damages for the overflowing of the 
plaintiff's land by water, resulting from the construction 
of a dam across a river. The defense was that the dam 
constituted a part of the system adopted by the State for 
improving the navigation of Fox and Wisconsin Rivers ; 
and it was contended that as the damages of which the 
plaintiff complained were only the result of the improve- 
ment, under legislative sanction, of a navigable stream, he 
was not entitled to compensation from the State or its 
agents. The case, therefore, involved the question whether 
the overflowing of the plaintiff's land, to such an extent 
that it became practically unfit to be used, was a taking of 
property within the meaning of the constitution of Wis- 
consin, providing that "the property of no person shall 
be taken for public use without just compensation 
therefor." 

This court said it would be a very curious and unsatis- 
factory result, were it held that, "if the government re- 
frains from the absolute conversion of real property to the 



256 THE CURSE OF RUM. 

uses of the public, it can destroy its value entirely, can 
inflict irreparable and permanent injury to any extent, 
can, in effect, subject it to a total destruction without making 
any compensation, because, in the narrowest sense of that 
word, it is not taken for the public use. Such a con- 
struction would pervert the constitutional provision into 
a restriction upon the rights of the citizen, as those rights 
stood at the common law, instead of the government, and 
make it an authority for the invasion of private rights 
under the pretext of the public good, which had no 
warrant in the laws of practices of our ancestors." 

These principles have no application to the case under 
consideration. The question in Pumpelly vs. Green Bay 
Company arose under the State's power of eminent domain ; 
while the question now before us arises under what are, 
strictly, the police powers of the State, exerted for the 
protection of health, morals, and safety of the people. 
That case, as the court said, in Transportation Co. vs. 
Chicago, 99 U. S. 642, was an extreme qualification of 
the doctrine, universally held, that "acts done in the 
proper exercise of governmental powers, and not directly 
encroaching upon private property, though these conse- 
quences may impair its use," do not constitute a taking 
within the meaning of the constitutional provision, or 
entitle the owner of such property to compensation from 
the State or its agents, or give him any right of action. 
It was a case in which there was a "permanent flooding 
of private property," a "physical invasion of the real 



THE CURSE OF RUM. 257 

estate of the private owner, and a practical ouster of his 
possession. " His property was, in effect, required to be 
devoted to the use of the public, and, consequently, he 
was entitled to compensation. A prohibition simply upon 
the use of property for purposes that are declared by a 
valid legislation, to be injurious to the health, morals, or 
safety of the community cannot, in any just sense, be 
deemed a taking or an appropriation of property for the 
public benefit. Such legislation does not disturb the 
owner in the control or use of his property for lawful 
purposes, nor restrict his right to dispose of it, but is only 
a declaration by the State that its use by any one for cer- 
tain forbidden purposes, is prejudicial to the public inter- 
ests. Nor can legislation of that character come within 
the Fourteenth Amendment, in any case, unless it is 
apparent that its real object is not to protect the com- 
munity, or to promote the general well-being, but, under 
the guise of police regulation, to deprive the owner of his 
liberty and property, without due process of law. 

The power which the States have of prohibiting such 
use by individuals of their property as will be prejudicial 
to the health, the morals, or the safety of the public, is 
not and, consistently with the existence and safety of 
organized Society, cannot be burdened with the condition 
that the State must compensate such individual owners 
for pecuniary losses they may sustain by reason of their 
not being permitted, by a noxious use of their property, 
to inflict injury upon the community. The exercise of 



258 THE CURSE OF RUM. 

the police power by the destruction of property which is 
itself a public nuisance, or the prohibition of its use in a 
particular way, whereby its value becomes depreciated, 
is very different from taking property for public use, or 
from depriving a person of his property without clue 
process of law. In the one case, a nuisance only is 
abated ; in the other, unoffending property is taken away 
from an innocent owner. It is true that when the defend- 
ants in these cases purchased or erected their breweries, 
the laws of the State did not forbid the manufacture of 
intoxicating liquors. But the State did not thereby give 
any assurance or come under any obligation that its legis- 
lation upon that subject would remain unchanged. In- 
deed, as was said in Stone vs. Mississippi, 101 U. S., the 
supervision of the public health and the public morals is 
a governmental power, "continuing in its nature," and 
"to be dealt with as the special exigencies of the mo- 
ment may require ;" and that "for this purpose the larg- 
est legislative discretion is allowed, and the discretion 
cannot be parted with any more than the power itself." 
So in Beer Co. vs. Massachusetts, 97U.S. 32: "If the 
public safety or the public morals require the discontinu- 
ance of any manufacture or traffic, the hand of the legis- 
lature cannot be stayed from providing for its discontin- 
uance by any incidental inconvenience which individuals 
or corporations may suffer." It now remains to consider 
certain questions relating particularly to the thirteenth 
section of the act of 1885. That section — which takes 



THE CURSE OF RUM. 259 

the place of section 13 of the act of 1881 — is as follows : 
"Sec. 13. All places where intoxicating liquors are 
manufactured, sold, bartered, or given away in violation 
of any of the provisions of this act, or where intoxicating 
liquors are kept for sale, barter, or delivery in violation 
of this act, are hereby declared to be common nuisances, 
and upon the judgment cf any court having jurisdiction 
finding such place to be a nuisance under this section, the 
sheriff, his deputy, or under-sheriff, or any constable of 
the proper county, or marshal of any city where the same 
is located, shall be directed to shut up and abate such 
place by taking possession thereof and destroying all in- 
toxicating liquors found therein, together with all signs, 
screens, bars, bottles, glasses, and other property used in 
keeping and maintaining said nuisance, and the owner or 
keeper thereof shall, upon conviction, be adjudged guilty 
of maintaining a common nuisance, and shall be punished 
by a fine of not less than one hundred dollars nor more 
than five hundred dollars, and by imprisonment in the 
county jail not less than thirty days nor more then ninety 
days. The attorney-general, c ounty attorney, or any 
citizen of the county where such nuisance exists, or is 
kept, or is maintained, may maintain an action in the 
name of the State to abate arid perpetually enjoin the 
same. The injunction shall be granted at the commence- 
ment of the action, and no bond shall be required. Any 
person violating the terms of any injunction, shall be 
punished as for contempt, by a fine of not less than one 



260 THE CURSE OF RUM. 

hundred nor more than five hundred dollars, or by imprison- 
ment in the county jail not less than thirty days nor more 
than six months, or by both such fine and imprisonment, 
in the discretion of the court." It is contended by coun- 
sel in the case of Kansas vs. Ziebold & Hagelin, that the 
entire scheme of this section is an attempt to deprive 
persons who come within its provisions of their property 
and of their liberty without due process of law ; especially, 
when taken in connection with that clause of section four- 
teen (amendatory of section 21 of the act of 1881,) 
which provides that "in prosecutions under this act, by 
indictment or otherwise ***** it shall not 
be necessary in the first instance for the State to prove 
that the party charged did not have a permit to sell in- 
toxicating liquors for the excepted purposes." We are 
unable to perceive anything in these regulations incon- 
sistent with the constitutional guarantees of liberty and 
property. The State having authority to prohibit the 
manufacture and sale of intoxicating liquors for other 
than medical, scientific, and mechanical purposes, we do 
not doubt her power to declare that any place, kept and 
maintained for the illegal manufacture and sale of such 
liquors, shall be deemed a common nuisance, and be 
abated, and, at the same time, to provide for the indict- 
ment and trial of the offender. One is a proceeding 
against the property used for forbidden purposes, while 
the other is for the punishment of the offender. 

It is said that by the 13th section of the act of 1885, 



THE CURSE OF RUM. 261 

the legislature, finding a brewery within the State in 
actual operation, without notice, trial, or hearing, by the 
mere exercise of its arbitary caprice, declares it to be a 
common nuisance, and prescribes the consequences which 
are to follow inevitably by judicial mandate required by 
the statute, and involving and permitting the exercise of 
no judicial discretion or judgment ; that, the brewery 
being found in operation, the court is not to determine 
whether it is a common nuisance, but, under the com- 
mand of the statute, is to find it to be one ; that it is the 
liquor made, or the making of it, which is thus enacted to 
be a common nuisance, but the place itself, including 
all the property used in keeping and maintaining the com- 
mon nuisance that the judge having thus signed without 
inquiry — and it may be, contrary to the fact and against 
his own judgment — the edict of the legislature, the court 
is commanded to take possession by its officers of the 
place and shut it up ; nor is all this destruction of property, 
by legislative edict, to be made as a forfeiture consequent 
upon conviction of any offense, but merely because the 
legislature so commands ; and it is done by a court of 
equity, without any previous conviction first had, or any 
trial known to the law. 

This certainly is a formidable arraignment of the legis- 
lation of Kansas, and if it were founded upon a just in- 
terpretation of her statutes the court would have no diffi- 
culty in declaring that they could not be enforced without 
infringing the constitutional rights of the citizen. But 



262 THE CURSE OF RUM. 

those statutes have no such scope and are attended with 
no such results as the defendants suppose. The court is 
not required to give effect to a legislative "decree" or 
"edict," unless every enactment by the law-making power 
of a State is to be so characterized. It is not declared 
that every establishment is deemed a common nuisance 
because it may have been maintained prior to the passage 
of the statute as a place for manufacturing intoxicating 
liquors. The statute is prospective in its operation, that 
is, it does not put the brand of a common nuisance upon 
any place, unless, after its passage, that place is kept and 
maintained for purposes declared by the legislature to be 
injurious to the community. Nor is the court required to 
adjudge any place to be a common nuisance simply be- 
cause it is charged by the State to be such. It must first 
find it to be of that character ; that is, must ascertain in 
some legal mode whether since the statute was passed the 
place in question has been, or is being so used to make it 
a common nuisance. 

Equally untenable is the proposition that proceedings 
in equity for the purposes indicated in the thirteenth sec- 
tion of the statute are inconsistent with due process of 
law. "In regard to public nuisances," Mr. Justice Story 
says, "the jurisdiction of courts of equity seems to be of 
a very ancient date, and has been distinctly traced back 
to the reign of Queen Elizabeth. The jurisdiction is ap- 
plicable not only to public nuisances, strictly so called, 
but also to purpestures upon public rights and property. 



THE cirasE OP RUM. 263 

* * * * j n cases f public nuisances, properly so 
called, an indictment lies to abate them, and to punish 
the offenders. But an information, also, lies in equity 
to redress the grievance by way of injunction. " 2 Story's 
Eq., §§ 921,922. The ground of this injunction in cases 
of purpresture, as well as of public nuisances, is the 
ability of courts of equity to give a more speedy, effec- 
tual and permanent remedy than can be had at law. They 
cannot only prevent nuisances that are threatened, and 
before irreparable mischief ensues, but arrest or abate 
those in progress, and, by perpetual injunction, protect 
the public against them in the future ; whereas courts of 
law can only reach existing nuisances, leaving future acts 
to be the subject of new prosecutions or proceedings. 
This is a salutary jurisdiction, especially where a nui- 
sance affects the health, morals or safety of a community. 
Though not frequently exercised, the power undoubtedly 
exists in courts of equity thus to protect the public 
against injury. District- Attorney vs. Lynn and Boston 
R. R. Co., 16 Gray, 245 ; Attorney-General vs. N. J. R. 
R., 3 Green's Ch. 139 ; Attorney-General vs. Tudor Ice 
Co., 104 Mass. 244; State vs. Mayor, 5 Porter, (Ala.,) 
279,294 ; Hoole vs. Attorney-General, 22 Ala. 194 ; At- 
torney-General vs Hunter, 1 Dev. Eq. 13 ; Attorney- 
General vs. Forbes, 2 Mylne and Craig, 123, 129 and 133 ; 
Attorney-General vs. Great Northern R. R. Co., 1 Dr. 
and Sm. 161 ; Eden on Injunctions. 259 ; Kerr on In- 
junctions, (2d Ed.,) 168. 



264 THE CURSE OP RtJM. 

As to the objection that the statute makes no provision 
for a jury trial in cases like this one, it is sufficient to say 
that such a mode of trial is not required in suits in equity 
brought to abate a public nuisance. The statutory 
direction that an injunction issue at the commencement 
of the action is not to be construed as dispensing with 
such preliminary proof as is necessary to authorize an in- 
junction simply because one is asked, or because the 
charge is made that a common nuisance is maintained in 
violation of law. The statute leaves the court at liberty 
to give effect to the principle that an injunction will not be 
granted to restrain a nuisance, except upon clear and satis- 
factory evidence that one exists. Here the fact to be as- 
certained was, not whether a place kept and maintained 
for purposes forbidden by the statute, was per se, a nui- 
sance — that fact being conclusively determined by the 
statute itself — but whether the place in question was so 
kept and maintained. If the proof upon that point is not 
full or sufficient, the court can refuse an injunction or 
postpone action until the State first obtains the verdict of 
a jury in her favor. In this case, it cannot be denied that 
the defendants kept and maintained a place that is within 
the statutory definition of a common nuisance. Their 
petition for the removal of the cause from the State court 
and their answer to the bill admitted every fact necessary 
to maintain this suit, if the statute, under which it was 
brought, was constitutional. Touching the provision that 
the prosecutions, by indictment or otherwise, the State 



THE CtJRSE OF RUM. 265 

need not, in the first instance, prove that the defendant 
has not the permit required by the statute, we may re- 
mark that, if it has any application to a proceeding like 
this, it does not deprive him of the presumption that he is 
innocent of any violation of the law. It is only a declara- 
tion that when the State has proven that the place de- 
scribed is kept and maintained for the manufacture or sale 
of intoxicating liquors — such manufacture or sale being 
unlawful except for specified purposes, and then only 
under a permit — the prosecution need not prove a negative, 
namely, that the defendant has not the required license or 
permit. If the defendant has such license or permit, he 
can easily produce it, and thus overthrow the prima facie 
case established by the State. 

A portion of the argument in behalf of the defendants 
is to the effect that the statutes of Kansas forbid the 
manufacture of intoxicating liquors to be exported, or to 
be carried to other States, and upon that ground, are 
repugnant to the clause of the constitution of the United 
States giving Congress power to regulate commerce with 
foreign nations and among the several States. We need 
only say, upon this point, that there is no intimation in 
the record that the beer which the respective defendants 
manufactured was intended to be carried out of the State 
or to foreign countries. And, without expressing an 
opinion as to whether such facts would have constituted a 
good defense, we observe that it will be time enough to 
decide a case of that character when it shall come before 



266 THE CURSE OF RUM."\ i 

V 

us. For the reasons stated, we are of opinion that the 
judgments of the Supreme Court of Kansas have not de- 
nied to Mugler, the plaintiff in error, any right, privilege, 
or immunity secured to him by the Constitution of the 
United States, and its judgment, in each case, is, ac- 
cordingly, affirmed. We are, also, of opinion that the 
Circuit Court of the United States erred in dismissing the 
bill of the State against Ziebold & Hagelin. The decree 
in that case reversed, and the cause remanded, with 
directions to enter a decree granting to the State such re- 
lief as the act of March 7, 1885, authorizes. 
It is so ordered. 

DISSENTING OPINION. 

Mr. Justice Field delivered the following opinion : 
I concur in the judgment rendered by this court in the 
first two cases, those coming from the Supreme Court of 
Kansas. I dissent from the judgment in the last case, 
the one coming from the Circuit Court of the United 
States. I agree to so much of the opinion as asserts that 
there is nothing in the Constitution or laws of the United 
States affecting the validity of the act of Kansas prohibit- 
ing the sale of intoxicating liquors manufactured in the 
State, except for the purposes mentioned. But I am not 
prepared to say that the State can prohibit the manufac- 
ture of such liquors within its limits if they are intended 
for exportation, or forbid their sale within its limits, under 
proper regulations for the protection of the health and 
morals of the people, if Congress has authorized their 



THE CURSE OF RUM. 267 

importation, though the act of Kansas is broad enough to 
include both such manufacture and sale. The right to 
import an article of merchandise, recognized as such by 
the commercial world — whether the right be given by act 
of Congress or by treaty with foreign country — would 
seem necessarily to carry the right to sell the article when 
imported. In Brown vs. Maryland, 12 Wheat. 447, 
Chief Justice Marshall, in delivering the opinion of this 
court, said as follows : "Sale is the object of importation, 
and is an essential ingredient of that intercourse of 
which importation constitutes a part. It is as essential 
an ingredient, as indispensable to the existence of the en- 
tire thing, then, as importation itself. It must be con- 
sidered as a component part of the power to regulate 
commerce. Congress has a right not only to authorize 
importation, but to authorize the importer to sell." 

If one State can forbid the sale within its limits of an 
imported article, so may all the States, each selecting a 
different article. There would then be little uniformity 
of regulations with respect to articles of inter-state com- 
merce. And we know it was one of the objects of the 
formation of the federal constitution to secure uniformity 
of commercial regulations against discriminating State 
legislation. I reserve the expression of any views on 
this point, and only refer to them now lest I shall here- 
after be deemed concluded by a general concurrence in 
the opinion of the majority. 

I do not agree to what is said with reference to the case 



868 THE CUBSE OF ROT. ' 

from the United States Circuit Court, That was a suit in 
equity brought for the abateraeut of the brewery owned 
by the defendants. It is based on clauses in the 13th 
section of the laws of Kansas, which are as follows ; "All 
places where intoxicating liquors are manufactured, sold, 
bartered, or given away in violation of any of the pro- 
visions of this act. are hereby declared to be public nui- 
sances ; and upon the judgment of any court having ju- 
risdiction finding such place to be a nuisance under this 
section, the sheriff, his deputy, or under-sheriff, or any 
constable of the proper county, or marshal of any city 
where same is located, shall be directed to shut up and 
abate such place by taking possession thereof and destroy- 
ing all intoxicating liquor found therein, together with all 
signs, screens, bars, bottles, glasses, and other property 
used in keeping and maintaining said nuisance ; and the 
keeper thereof shall, upon conviction, be adjudged 
guilty of maintaining a common nuisance, and shall be 
punished by a fine of not less than one hundred dollars 
nor more than five hundred dollars, and by imprisonment 
in the county jail not less than thirty days nor more than 
ninety days. The attorney-general, county attorney, or 
any citizen of the county where such nuisance exists, or is 
kept, or is maintained, may maintain an action in the 
name of the State to abate and perpetually enjoin the 
same. The injunction shall be granted at the commence- 
ment of the action, and no bond shall be required." 
By a previous section all malt, vinous, and fermented 



THE CtTRSE OF RUM. 269 

liquors are classed as intoxicating liquors, and their 
manufacture, barter, and sale are equally prohibited. By 
the 13th section, as is well said by counsel, the legislature 
— finding a place where such liquors are sold, bartered, or 
given away, or kept for sale, or barter, or delivery — in 
this case a brewery, where beer was manufactured and 
sold, which, up to the passage of the act, was a lawful 
industry — -without notice or hearing of any kind, declares 
it to be a common nuisance ; and prescribes what shall 
follow, upon a court having jurisdiction finding such place 
to be a nuisance. The court is not to determine whether 
the place is a common nuisance in fact, but is to find it to 
be so if it comes within the definition of the statute, and, 
having thus found it, the executive officers of the court 
are to be directed to shut up aad abate the place by taking 
possession of it ; and as though this were not sufficient se- 
curity against the continuance of the business, they are to be 
required to destroy all the liquor found therein, and all other 
property used in and maintaining the nuisance . It matters 
not whether they are of such a character as could be used 
in any other business, or be of value for any other pur- 
poses. No discretion is left in the judge or in the officer. 
These clauses appear to me to deprive one who owns a 
brewery and manufactures beer for sale, like the defend- 
ants, of property without due process of law. The de- 
struction to be ordered is not as a forfeiture upon con- 
viction of any offense, but merely because the legislature 
has commanded the court so to direct. I cannot see upon 



270 THE Cti&Sfi OF RDI. 

what principle the legislature, after closing the brewery, 
and thus putting an end to its use in the future for manu- 
facturing spirits, can order the destruction of the liquor 
already manufactured, which it admits by its legislation 
may be valuable for some purposes, and may be lawfully 
sold for those purposes : nor can I see how the protection 
of the health and morals of the people of this State can 
require the destruction of property like bottles, glasses, 
and other utensils, after the liquor is emptied from them. 
They might then be used for harmless purposes. It has 
heretofore been supposed to be an established principle, 
that where there is a power to abate a nuisance, the abate- 
ment must be limited by its necessity, and no wanton or 
unnecessary injury can be committed to the property or 
rights of individuals. Thus, if the nuisance consists in 
the use to which a building is put, the remedy is to stop 
such use, not to tear down or demolish the building itself . 
Babcock vs. City of Buffalo, o$ N. Y. 268 : Chenango 
Bridge Co. vs. Page. 83 N. Y. 189. The decision of the 
court, as it seems to me, reverses the principle. It is 
plain that great wrong will often be done to manufacturers 
of liquors if legislation like that embodied in this 13th 
section can be upheld- The Supreme Court of Kansas 
admits that the legislature of the State, in destroying the 
values of such kinds of property, may have gone to the 
utmost verge of constitutional authority. In my opinion 
it has passed beyond that verge and crossed the line which 
separates regulation from confiscation. 



CHAPTER XVIIL 



CLOSING REMARKS. 

The foregoing decision of the Supreme Court of the 
United States, the highest court and final tribunal to which 
the American people can appeal for safety in case of 
wrongs committed against them by insignificant, inferior 
courts or legislative bodies, in the cases in point in re- 
gard to the question of the manufacture of and traffic in 
intoxicating liquors as a beverage being a common nui- 
sance, the great cause and producer of nearly all the crime 
committed, the poverty and misery endured by multitudes 
of families, wives, widows, orphans, and many aged and 
helpless people, in our opinion is a wise and just de- 
cision, and will be rewarded by Heaven's most noble and 
best gifts: " Sweet peace of conscience, Heavenly rest." 

We have given the decision verbatim as delivered by 
Mr. Justice Harlin as the opinion of the highest court of 
the American republic. It was decided with but one dis- 
senting voice, viz. : that of Mr. Justice Field. But let 
us remember that Mr. Field concurred in the judgment of 



272 THE CURSE OF RUM. 

the court in the first two cases, those coming from the 
Supreme Court of Kansas ; only dissenting in the last 
case, the one coming from the Circuit Court of the United 
States. Perhaps to many of our readers this decision 
may be tiresome, it being somewhat lengthy, while with 
others it may play a conspicuous part in the drama of our 
work, it being an official copy of the decision rendered 
by the highest authority in our national government. The 
copy of the late decision reaching us as we are drawing 
our work to a close, we have several reasons for applying 
it to the closing of the work we have already penned : 
First, there are very many people that the official copy 
would not otherwise reach , again, there are many who read 
the newspapers credulously, applying often a misconstruc- 
tion of its intents ; in other cases many daily and weekly 
periodicals publish simply extracts of the decision, and 
we would not say but that they would publish such clauses 
as would best meet their political views ; but our last and 
one very prominent reason is to show that we do not stand 
alone in our political views upon the "great question of 
the day." Besides the thousands of friends of humanity 
that w r alk hand in hand with us, we are supported in our 
endeavors to crush out from our beautiful land the traffic 
in the deadly poison that brings crime, poverty, pauper- 
ism, insanity, drunkenness, prostitution, destruction of 
property, bringing bankruptcy and financial ruin to 
thousands of business men, and final disaster and ruin to 
mechanical geniuses. Backed by the highest unbiased 



THE CURSE OF RUM. 273 

judicial authority of one of the greatest, and most noble, 
and most powerful nations of the globe, we rest assured 
that our work will stand the scrutinizing power of the 
keen-eyed critic. And we further quote Judge Dixon's 
charge to the grand jury, Paterson, N. Jo, January term, 
1888, which is the following: 

Gentlemen of the Grand Jury : There is nothing of 
special importance to which to direct your attention at 
this time, except one matter that is ever present and 
ever demanding our careful scrutiny and most earnest 
consideration. I speak now of the violation of the law 
regulating the sale of intoxicating liquors. It is an old 
story and a very sad one. There is no class of crime on 
the calendar that is responsible for more ruined fortunes, 
wrecked lives and blasted homes. This is conceded, and 
yet there is no class of crime that is more difficult to 
reach. Violations of the law in this regard are permitted 
to go unpunished, year after year, with scarcely a single 
exception. This is because the Grand Juries of the coun- 
ty fail to detect as jurors what must be patent to them as 
individuals — that the law is constantly and openly set at 
defiance ; or else, detecting, they fall short of the 
performance of their sworn duty by failing to present the 
violations of the law of which they have, or may have 
full knowledge. It is to be hoped that you, gentlemen, 
will inaugurate a new policy — not tortuous but straight ; 
not truckling but independent ; not evasive but earnest 
and manly. It is to be hoped, gentlemen, that you will 



274 THE CURSE OF RUM. 

perform your duty and fulfil your sworn obligations to 
the community without fear or favor. If you will but 
do this, if you will inaugurate a new era and succeeding 
Grand Juries will persevere in the same course, violators 
of the law will find the struggle an unequal one and in 
the end will be compelled to succumb. I earnestly trust 
that you may do this thing. You may now retire to your 
deliberations. 

THE QUICKSANDS OF LIFE. 

How many sad wrecks of misfortune 
Stalk daily through hamlet and town, 
Whose poverty beckons compassion, 
But meets with a cold-hearted frown ; 
Who, once basked in the sunshine of riches, 
Wealth, and friendship hung over their door ; 
But, alas ! who can tell in the sunshine ; 
Of the dark clouds, that are waiting in store ? 

Who can tell, when the dazzling temptations 
Of wealth, and fame, hang high in their view, 
Which shall be crowned as the victors, 
Or shall they be many, or few. 
The race is for all. Who shall win ? 
Then let us with care guard our footsteps, 
Ere the maelstrom has drawn us within. 

The beer-glass causes many to shudder and weep, 

Muddles the brain, and tangles the feet, 

Burns the clothes from the victim's back, 

And sends them staggering in the street. 

Not only this, but further along, 

The wolf from his den sends a deadly howl, 




THE SNAKE S DEN. 



The saloon is the primary educating place of the youth; it fits them for 
plunging deeper into vice, that they may, all the sooner, become adepts in the 
art of theft, graduating in the science of crime, dispelling all feelings of gener- 
osity and refinement, leading the young and innoceut into the path of reckless- 
ness, drawing the coil tighter and tighter, until the victim feels he is completely 
in the fatal snare, from whence there is no retreat. Many, oh ! how many, hare 
been led from their homes through the channel of strong drink, away from ten- 
der affections and influences of a loving mother, an affectionate father, the 
tender and loving embrace of brothers and sisters, and all the endearing ties ot 
fondness for home and friends, into the dark abyss of misery and crime, to end 
their lives within the gloomy walls of a prison or upon the gallows, while many 
find, when too late, they are registered on the pauper's list, and at last help to 
swell the number that fill drunkards' graves. 



THE CURSE OF RUM. 275 

As the rum-bottle chimes a chorus to the song 
Of the rum-cask, and the flowing bowl. 

The evils that are crowding around us, 

Are burnished and polished so bright, 

That it closes the eyes of the many ; 

The few from the danger take flight. 

The wolf in the garb of deception, 

In the fleece of the lamb, comes out from his den, 

With the flashing goblet in hand, and sparkling wine, 

He ruins the fortunes of men. 

Why should anxious mothers cease to weep 

For careless, youthful sons, who're led astray, 

When on the right and on the left, 

They have fallen by the way. 

She sees upon a youthful face, 

The smiles of joy, and the shadows play, 

But sinks in sorrow when she sees 

The sands beneath his feet give way. 

Angel of light, we call thee down from heaven, 

To drive the dark spirits away; 

Let the demon Rum be driven from our homes, 

Let night be turned to-day. 

Let the archangel's trumpet sound, 

And call the nation's home, 

If we must live beneath the shades and curse, 

Of wicked, cruel rum. 

The curse of rum has stamped it's seal 

Upon our nation's flag ; 

Who will not fight, or stand for right, 

To rule with laws that know no gag ? 

Let freedom ring from every tongue, 

Let every sword (ballot) for right be drawn; 



276 THE CURSE OF RUM. 

Let hearts unite and ballots count ; 
Let the bugle sound at early dawn. 

Let the news go forth from sea to sea, 

That our army is in motion ; 

And light shall shine in every home, 

From ocean down to ocean ; 

Let the voice, the pen, the ballot be 

The weapons in each hand, 

To drive the cursed stench of rum 

From this our native land. 

And of sons make noble men ; 
Free from riot, brawls and strife, 
And from the quicksands, place their feet 
On the rock of sober life. / 

Then shout for freedom in silver tones ; 
Let the blast be shrill and long ; 
And let our hands and hearts be joined 
In union, good and strong, 
Paterson, N. J., Feb., 1888. 

The above poem was written in Paterson, N.J., where 
the author was stopping for a few weeks. The city has 
nine hundred licensed plac.es to sell strong drink. 

RUM-SELLERS AND RUIN. 

And now, we think we have said enough on the subject 
to convince any liberal, fair-minded person ; so we will 
close by showing up the licensed saloon in the true light 
and character of its work. 

Wishing to get a living without hard work, I have 
started a prosperous business by leasing commodious rooms 
in Mr, Lovemoney's Block, corner of Ruin Street and Per- 



THE CURSE OF RUM. 277 

dition Lane, (next door to the undertaker's,) where I 
shall manufacture drunkards, paupers, and lunatics, beg- 
gars, criminals, "dead beats," for sober and industrious 
people to support. Backed up by the law, I shall add to 
the number of fatal accidents, painful diseases, disgrace- 
ful quarrels, riots and cold-blooded murders. My liquors 
are warranted to rob some of life ; many of reason ; 
more, of property; and all, of peace; to make fathers, 
fiends ; wives, widows ; and children, orphans. I shall 
cause mothers to forget their infants, children to grow up 
in ignorance ; young women to lose their priceless purity 
and smart young men to become loafers, swearing, gam- 
bling, skeptics, and lewd fellows of the baser kind. Lad} T 
customers supplied with beer, as good as the best "home- 
brewed," which will not intoxicate them, but only make 
them stupid, slack, lazy, coarse, and quarrelsome. 

£3F Sunday customers will please enter at the back door. 
Boys and girls are the raw material of which I make 
drunkards, &c. Parents may help me in this work by 
always sending their children for the "home-brewed 
article." At two hours notice I am able to put hus- 
bands in condition to reel home, break the furniture, 
beat their wives, and kick their children out of doors. I 
shall also fit mechanics to spoil their work, be discharged 
and become tramps. If one of my regular customers 
should decide to reform, I will, with pleasure for a few 
pennies, induce him to take just one glass more, or by 
offering him "free drinks," tempt him to start again on 



278 THE CURSE OF RUM. 

The Road to Ruin. The money he would spend in bread 
and other things for his family, will buy luxuries f or mine. 
And then, when his money is gone I will persuade him to 
run in debt, for I can collect the bill by attaching his wages. 
Orders promptly filled for fevers, scrofula, consumption, 
or delirium tremens. 

In short, I will do my best to help bring upon all my 
regular customers, debt, disgrace, disease, despair and 
death in this world, and in the next, pangs of the second 
death. The above may also be obtained of my high-toned 
agent, Mr. Frank De Seaver, druggist, corner of Main 
street and Shoddy avenue, who keeps a full line of (im) 
pure brandies, wines, liquors, and all the popular drinks 
(especially) called cordials, tonics and bitters, for medi- 
cinal purposes only. Having closed my ears to pity, and 
having made a league with Satan and sold myself to work 
iniquity, and having paid for my license, granted by a 
professed christian people, I have a right to bring all the 
above evils on my friends and neighbors for the sake of 
gain ! Some have suggested that I display outside the 
door assorted specimens of my art, but that would blockade 
the street ! Excellent samples of my manufactures 
may be seen inside almost any time, or at the station 
houses every morning, in the poor-houses, asylums, and 
prisons, every day, and very, very many times on the 
gallows. Call early and late, and, don't forget the place. 

Judas Suredeath. 

29 Ruin street, Rum River. 

State of In-toxi-cation, U. S. A. 



THE CURSE OF RUM. 279 

Kind reader, we come with an earnest, and last appeal 
in behalf of suffering humanity, asking you carefully and 
candidly to consider what is good, what is better, what is 
best, for the enjoyment, for the prosperity, for the peace 
axd happiness of the American people. Asking you to 
weigh the matter carefully and candidly in the balance of 
your best judgment, and act accordingly. 

After a careful survey of the liquor-traffic, and the great 
and many evils arising]from its use and effects, would it not 
be one of the greatest blessings bestowed upon mankind, 
if strong drink could, and should, be banished from the 
face of the earth ? Many of our readers will answer in 
the affirmative, with the rapidity of the lightning's flash, 
while others will still cling to the old "fogy" maxim, if it 
is used with caution it is good, or, it is good in its place ; 
while some will say, it saved my life upon one occasion, 
and I think it should be kept in certain places, for certain 
purposes. Perhaps, dear reader, these may be solid facts ; 
at least we will admit them to be stern facts ; if it is used 
with caution it is good, — to temper the palate to crave the 
taste, and paralyze the brain to that extent that the line 
of caution cannot be determined and you are lost in the 
cautious use of what you considered harmless. Others 
will claim, if a little is good, more is better ; and they, too, 
are engulfed in its ruin before they are aware of the 
swiftness of the current upon which they are borne ; to 
those who think it ought to be kept in certain places be- 
cause it may have, at some time, stimulated to action the 



280 THE CURSE OF RUM. 

patient while sinking and the influence of disease, we 
would most respectfully say to such of our readers, that 
where it has saved the life of one, under such circum- 
stances, it has killed ten thousand under circumstances 
of a far different character, and it is kept in certain places 
and does its nefarious work ; and it is kept in those cer- 
tain places, for certain purposes, which is are follows : It 
is kept at certain places for the purpose of getting wealth, 
by taking the money from the drinkers and robbing their 
families of food, clothing, shoes, and all the necessaries 
and comforts of life, and bringing misery, poverty, brawls, 
disturbance, wretchedness, insanity, and crime in 
thousands of American homes. It is kept in those certan 
places, such as brothels, where revel and riot know no 
bounds ; where the young and innocent are enticed into 
fatal snares of the wicked by the flashing allurements that 
are offered through the sparkling wine. It is kept in 
certain places, where our legislators meet to spend their 
leisure hours in their nightly revels, and they our law- 
makers, who enact laws to govern the American people. 
Yes, dear reader, there is too much of the diabolical 
stuff kept in certain places, and where is your excuse ? It 
will not cure the headache, or heartache, but causes both. 
It is a curse to the nation and destroys the people, and 
blasts thousands of once peaceful and happy homes. To 
those who believe strong drink is good in its place, read 
carefully the following lines, entitled "Whiskey in its 
Place." 



•THE CUkSE OF AUM. 28 1 

The following verses were written on hearing an old 
man make the remark that whiskey was good in its place : 

WHISKEY IN ITS PLACE. 

" Good in its place ! Where is its place ? 
Thou fiend that cursed the human race. 
Where is that place ? Oh, let me tell ; 
For I have learned thy secret well. 

Show me thy place where you have been, 
And there's the place where crime is seen ; 
Show me the place your presence blights, 
And there's the place for brawls and fights. 

Go, see the graves that you have filed ; 
Go, see the blood that you have spilled ; 
Then tell me that there is a place 
Where you should show your demon face. 

Go, ask the drunkard's wretched wife 
What's been the terror of her life ; 
What turned her raven locks to snow, 
And laid her wretched husband low ? 

See how she looks, by God forsaken ; 
See her by want and sorrow shaken ; 
See her hide in deep disgrace, 
Then say no more about your place. 

Go, hear the orphans cry for bread. 
Go, hear the widow mourn her dead ; 
Go, see the drunkard's haggard face, 
And ask of them, where is the place ? 

Ask the pauper at the poor-house door, 
What makes his heavy heart so sore ? 
He'll say while tears run down his face, 
Because he had for you a place. 



282 THE CURSE OF REM. 

Go, see the place where demons lurk ; 
Go, watch them at their devilish work, 
As they with knives each other chase, 
And there, vile whiskey, is thy place. 

There's where the gallows finds its food ; 
There's where the prison gets its brood; 
There's where crime and poverty embrace, 
While rushing on their headlong race. 

Whiskey, thy vile and stifling breath 
Has laid many a lofty form in death ; 
Your fiery tongue, like scorpion's sting, 
Misery and death and sorrow bring. 

Tell not to me that hateful lie, 

Nor seek thy havoc to deny ; 

For you the human souls debase, 

Thou art death and shame in any place." 

— Ehnira Sunday Tribune. 

IMPORTANT FIGURES. 

Col. Switzer, of the National Bureau of Statistics, states 
that at the request of the National Druggists' Association 
he has just concluded an investigation as to the propor- 
tion of the liquor consumed yearly in this country, used in 
the arts and manufactures. He has found that this per- 
centage, instead of being fifty per cent., as has been 
claimed, or even thirty, was only seven and one-half per 
cent. Col. Switzer also said the annual consumption of 
strong drink in the United States averaged an annual cost 
of forty-seven dollars to every man, woman and child. 



CHAPTER XIX. 



A CHAIN OF CRIMES. 

It is a crime to aid a man in committing crime. Drunk- 
enness is a crime. The man who sells the liquor aids the 
man to get drunk, and, therefore commits a crime. The 
government that grants a license or permits the sale of 
liquor, aids the liquor dealer in committing a crime, and, 
therefore, commits a crime itself. The voter who votes 
to license a man to sell liquor, commits a crime ; and so 
on. Rum, in the majority of cases, is the first cause of 
crime, — sin, sorrow, poverty, the expenses of the city 
and State, the populating of all the criminal and charitable 
institutions, and the support of a tremendous number of 
sixth-rate politicians. Is there no remedy for all of this? 
The people are beginning to say : "Yes, try prohibition." 

Already life insurance companies are refusing to issue 
policies to members or employees of any brewing company. 
As in the case of the North Western Life Insurance 
company which has its headquarters in Milwaukee. This 
stand taken by shrewd business men in the interest of thei 



284 THE CURSE OF RUM. 

business, does not seem to harmonize very well with the 
advertisement of the Milwaukee brewers, who declare their 
beer to be non-intoxicating, healthful, refreshing and 
invigorating, conducive to health, prosperity and hap- 
piness, and beneficial alike for old and young, male and 
female." 

But oh ! Beware, there is death lurking at the bottom 
of the mash-tub. the rum-cask, the whiskey barrel, the 
wine-bottle, and beer-glass. There is but one remedy ; 
Touch not. taste not. It kills in the end. 

Thirty-five years among different classes of people ; 
people of allnations, of all shades of color and character, 
as well as religious and political differences, radical and 
liberal, has led me to believe that a pen picture from life 
scenes, drawn by one who is unselfish, unbiased, and un- 
prejudiced, with motive strictly pure, would not be out of 
place in a work that all readers should, and undoubtedly 
very many will, become interested in perusing its pages. 
The authors father, G. G. Blankman, educated by the 
Holland Government, in the city of Amsterdam, on 
graduating had his choice, to enter the navy, or take his 
chances in private life : his father before him at the time 
being owner and captain of one of the largest class of 
merchant vessels, offered, and advised the then, young 
and promising son, a position as first mate which he ac- 
cepted, and for several years ploughed the rough ocean, 
sailing to different and distant parts of the globe, carry- 
ing merchandise of every kind from the coarsest lumber, 



THE CURSE OF RUM. 285 

the products of Norway and Sweden, to the more delicate 
products, the finest silks, and the luscious fruits of the 
Indies. Later, the father and son became noted as suc- 
cessful whalers, catching the sperm-whale among the ice 
in the Acrtic ocean. They were known as "Dutch 
Whalers," they being native Hollanders. The author's 
father afterwards accepted a position as captain of a 
merchant-trading vessel, of which he later became sole 
owner. The history of Holland speaks of the author's 
grandfather as a brave officer who commanded a Dutch 
man-of-war, and engaged in several naval battles in the 
war between Holland and Great Britain. 

But, pardon me, as I am not writing a history of the 
family, only a sketch to show the opportunity to study 
the different scenes and note facts which have came under 
theauthor's own observation. The writer can bo ast that 
he never knew or never heard of there being a drunkard 
in the family, on the father's or the mother's side ; but 
one circumstance I must record with regret. While my 
father was captain and owner of his vessel, he brought a 
cargo of rum and West India molasses from Demerara 
to New York. There seemed to be a disposition, or a 
sort of mania, in the family for a sea-faring life, and 
through the channel of that heredity the author himself 
is tainted with a love for water life, and has seen and met 
with many of the roughs of travel on land and sea ; having 
devoted the greater portion of my life in traveling in dif- 
ferent states, territories, provinces and countries, in cities, 



286 THE CtTRSE OF RUM. 

towns, boroughs, and the rural districts ; have had an 
opportunity of witnessing the effects and influence of 
strong drink upon the individual, society, the domestic 
fireside, the body politic, and the people of different na- 
tions. The cases are isolated where it has not had a de- 
moralizing effect to a greater or less extent, and were the 
great evil subdued or driven out of existence, our penal 
institutions would crumble into insignificance, and sink 
into obscurity ; the bow of peace would span the globe, 
and a halo of light would hang over every home ; and 
love, joy and peace would reign in every household. 

But alas ! Is it so to be ? The fiery-eyed monster is 
among us ; and has he come to stay ? Years have come 
and gone since the introduction of ardent spirits to the 
shores of our beloved America, and it has spread with 
the rapidity of prairie fires on the western plains, reach- 
ing its unrelenting hand into the circle of nearly every 
civilized home, into camp and cabin of the colored citizen ; 
indeed, it has far advanced and outstripped the rapid 
march of civilization and forced by the ruthless hand of 
the trader into the camp of the wild and barbarous sons 
of the wood, to spread dismay and disorder among the 
dusky sons and daughters of the forest. It is not only 
among the ignorant, the poor, the low, the ill-bred, the 
colored people, and the dusky Indian that its disturbing 
influence is felt, but the rich, the refined, (so-called,) the 
aristocratic, and very many who move in the most lofty 
circles of society are made to feel its vital effects, and 



THE CURSE OF RUM. 287 

succumb to its destroying influence. It robs them of 
their wealth, disturbs their peace, drives out sweet smiles, 
and banishes forever the sunshine of contentment. Not 
only this, but our political parties are measurably held 
under its terrible influence, and our legislators become 
corrupt through the influence of the wealth the rum-power 
holds in their hands. I might cite cases without limit 
where homes are broken up, children led astray, families 
separated, and murders committed through excessive use 
of the death-essence of strong drink. But for a time we 
will let that subject rest, and speak of a few of the inci- 
dents of city life. 

I spent a portion of the past winter in New Jersey. I 
visited several cities within the borders of the State. 
Among the rest, I spent some time in the city of Paterson. 
I was informed by good authority, there were nearly nine 
hundred places where strong drink was sold under a 
license, and the only water used in the city is a small 
stream called the Passaic River, and the supply from the 
stream is mostly used by the breweries, and for milling 
purposes. Sunday seemed to me to be the day mostly 
devoted to drinking, especially by the police force, or a 
portion of those on duty ; the come-in-at-the-side-door 
seemed to be well understood by all. 

A little incident occurred while I was boarding at the 
Delaware, Lackawanna and Western Hotel in the city; It 
was rented and kept by one Ernst Muller, a Swiss dutch- 
rnan who claimed to be a graduate from some college in 



288 THE CURSE OF RUM. 

his native country, but from his love of drink we come 
to the conclusion that he might also be a graduate of some 
brewery, or wine-cellar. I had been boarding nearly two 
months at his house, when by some means he ascertained 
that I was writing a work on the evils of intemperance. 
The discovery was made on Saturday. On the Monday 
following he came to me as dinner was nearly ready, say- 
ing, "Mr. Plankman, I vas so mad ven I hear you vas 
demberance man, dot I cood not stand 'em any more. 
You vas von shentleman, but you vight 'ginst my peesness 
und I don'd like 'em, not much, aint id ?" 

Reader do you ask what was my reply ? I simply said : 
" Mr. Muller, your bill-of fare in your dining room is 
good enough for a king ; with that I am satisfied ; but 
your poison swill in your bottles I do not consider it 
policy to drink and I will not drink it! and, again, as in 
your case, it drives out good sense and muddles the brain. 
It lowers man far below the brute ; it destroys the health 
of the drinker, and robs their families of what is justly 
their own, making hell of home, paupers of their wives 
and children, and miserable drunken wrecks of them- 
selves." 

Hoboken, another city of vice, is horrible to contem- 
plate. On Sabbath morning, if you choose, you can walk 
in at the front door and get your drinks ; attend church, 
then, if you desire to do so ; you can play billiards as long 
as you wish, or you can stand on the church steps and 
listen to the cracking of the balls on the billiard tables till 



THE CURSE OF RUM. 289 

the dawn of another day. On my way home, my business 
called me to Washington, N. J., a borough of four 
thousand inhabitants and by the way a no-license town. 
I put up at the Washington Hotel, kept by Mr. James 
Nolan. Numerous calls were made for a bottle of lager. 
Mr. Nolan's answer would be : "I have no right to sell less 
than a quart. You must take two bottles instead of one," 
thus forcing double the amount on his customer in order 
to evade the penalty of the law they care nothing for. 

O ! New Jersey, shake the dust from your feet, and 
shame the Empire State, which is wallowing in the mire. 
I came near forgetting one little borough in the State 
where I stayed over Sunday. It was Boonton, a no-license 
town of some twelve hundred inhabitants. I arrived in 
the evening at eight o'clock, and was directed to the 
United States hotel. The proprietor told me it was a no- 
license town, and he would not keep travelers on any 
terms whatever. So I walked on in the darkness, and 
dark it was too. I inquired of a stranger, who pleasant- 
ly informed me of the whereabouts of a temperance 
boarding house, kept by a widow. I found quarters in 
the house, where everything seemed pleasant. What met 
my gaze on the Sabbath was a fierce straggle between a 
policeman and a drunken man, the policeman using his 
club until the drunken man was literally covered with 
blood. In the evening following, when the boarders 
came to the boarding-house, they were everyone of them 
drunk. New Jersey is still in the dark. It seems very 



290 THE CURSE OF RDM. 

strange that people who claim to be intelligent will in- 
dulge in the foolish habit which muddles the brain, 
destroys the intellect, and kills in the end. 

Listen ! Macey Warner, who was hanged in Jefferson, 
Indiana, made the following speech : "If any of you ever 
take a glass of whiskey, before you put it to your lips, 
think of Macey Warner, and look into the bottom of the 
glass and see if you cannot see a rope in there ?" There is 
one great fault, or mistaken idea, that too many people drift 
into ; (viz.), they look too late ; when they discover the 
snakes, they are in their boots, they are all around them, 
and they cannot be driven away. They encircle their 
victims, bring them tighter and tighter in their folds, till 
the last hope of freedom is given up in despair and all is 
lost ! What then? A terrible death and a drunkard's grave 
is the closing scene of a life of wretchedness and suffer- 
ing. 

A short chapter on High License ought to be sufficient 
to convince any fair-minded person that it is not advanc- 
ing the cause of temperance, nor checking in the least the 
sale of intoxicating drink. It may have a tendency to 
close a portion of the saloons that are kept by the poorer 
class of people ; yet, while it closes that class, it throws 
the field open to those who are abundantly able to pay the 
expense of a higher license, giving the rich a chance to 
monopolize the trade and forcing the poorer class out of 
the business altogether ; or else they become violators of 
the law, which only forms a wall, or barricade, between 



THE CURSE OF RUM. 291 

the license-holder and the people, by selling without a 
license altogether. And, as we have said before, if it is 
a crime, or if it leads to crime, it should not be established 
by law ; if it is not, and does not lead to crime, it does 
not need to be protected by law. Then, why give the rich 
privileges that the poor man cannot reach, in the commer- 
cial world, outside of buying and selling ? Or, in other 
words, a poor man cannot traffic in a certain commodity 
to a small extent, without paying a high license, the same 
as the man who has his millions, and is capable of carry- 
ing on the same business to any extent. The local-option 
license law is, in our opinion, no better than a high license 
law would be. For the "Tree of Intemperance" is very 
much like unto a tree of any other kind that bears its 
fruit according to the pruning and cultivation it receives. 
The high license advocates, for fear the tree will cease to 
bear fruit luscious to the taste and flattering to the eye, 
as far as regards wealth to the manufacturers and dealer, 
and for fear the axe will be laid to the root of the tree 
and it shall be ruined for their nefarious purpose, have 
begun cutting back the ends of the twigs from the branches, 
that it shall not make so great a show, but will bear more 
abundant the fruit that brings shame, disgrace, and dis- 
honor, with its rich harvest. The local-optionist only ap- 
plies the axe to now and then a dry limb of the tree, by 
cutting off occasionally a town, only that the vile stuff 
may be imported from an adjoining town by the gallon, 
keg, or barrel to be drank at leisure at home, then to be 
refilled and drank from until empty again. 



292 THE CURSE OF RUM. 

Dear reader, the only hope for safety is to revolutionize 
the government by the ballot, and make laws and enforce 
them, that shall declare the traffic ruinous to the health 
and morals of the people, and that the breweries, and 
distilleries shall not exist, and the traffic shall be driven 
from our shores. There are but very few men who are 
selling strong drink, whom I have conversed with, who 
will not admit it is rather a degrading business, but wind 
up by saying there is money in the traffic, or I would not 
engage in the business. They seem to estimate wealth 
above all other considerations, knowing it robs the victim 
of everything that is pure ; of peace, health, honor, credit ; 
and plunges him headlong into despair, disgrace, poverty, 
and a drunkard's grave. And then, there are many 
people who profess to be temperance advocates, who never 
agitate the subject of temperance, or ever look beyond 
their own welfare ; they will stand up in churches and tell 
to the audience how they coincide with the temperance 
views of the speaker who was last upon the floor, but 
when they come to the great question at the polls they 
shirk their responsibility by keeping silent on the subject, 
or voting out right for license, and yet they offer up long 
prayers in behalf of the starving wives and beggared 
childi en of the drunkard, for whom they have voted to 
sustain a license to sell him the ruinous drink that has 
brought upon the drinker and his family drunkenness and 
starvation. To such as those, let me ask again : did you 
ever listen to a sermon preached from the text? "Woe 



THE CURSE OF RUM. 293 

unto him that putteth the cup to his neighbor's lips and 
maketh him drunken also."— Habakkuk, 1 1 chap. ; or ' * Wine 
is a mocker, strong drink is raging ; and whosoever is de- 
ceived thereby is not wise." — Proverbs, xx-. 1 "A prudent 
man foreseeth the evil, and hideth himself ; but the simple 
pass on, and are punished. " — Proverbs, xxii-3. For such 
people, the above would be appropriate texts for the 
funeral sermons of the friends of the people voting to 
sustain licenses to sell ardent spirits, which is the most 
inveterate foe and unmistakable destroyer of the human 
race. It is far worse than the fire-brand in a bale of 
cotton. 

TOUCH NOT THE POISON DRUG. 

Touch not the deadly drug; 

There's poison in the flask, 
And scorpions with the sting of death, 

Are bred in every cask. 

The glass may flash with dazzling light, 

The wine with age grow red ; 
But serpents from the drink curse grow 

And fill the dying bed. 

The tallest forest oaks, 

From little acorns grow ; 
From iivulets and smaller streams, 

The largest rivers flow. 

So from the smallest glass of wine, 

The curse of drink will grow, 
And blast the hope and craze the brain, 

Bring ruin, pain and woe. 



294: THE CURSE OF RUM. 

Then touch it not, taste it not ; 

Guard every step with care, 
Touch not the deadly poison drug 

For death is lurking there. 

1st. What license means. 

It is important that, in the first place, we should get a 
perception of all that is meant by the word license. The 
underlying idea is that of permission, or allowance. A 
hackman's license, for instance, permits him to engage in 
the business of cab-driving ; a marriage license permits 
two persons to be legally united in wedlock, and a liquor 
license permits a person to sell intoxicating liquors. The 
permission or allowance always carries with it the idea of 
right. 

When a parent or teacher permits a child to do a certain 
thing, the child instinctively feels that the thing itself is 
right and not wrong. Similarly, when the law licenses or 
permits anything to be done, it teaches that what it per- 
mits is correct in principle and expedient in practice. 
Again, the authority which permits a thing to be done 
will and must protect and support the person it permits 
against all that would annoy or harrass him. If one per- 
mits his boys to go fishing, he must protect them to the 
extent of his power against all who prevent or interfere 
with their sport. So, when the law licenses or permits 
any business to be carried on, it is bound to protect the 
person licensed. 

The license of permission is generally coupled with cer- 



THE CURSE OF RUM. 295 

tain conditions which the person must obey, and penalties 
are attached to the violations of those conditions. 

When, therefore, a community or a country issues 
licenses it does three things : 

1st. It calls the dram-shop into existence and permits 
its work. 

2d. It declares that the dram-shop is correct in prin- 
ciple and expedient in practice. 

3d. It pledges its authority to the protection of the 
dram-shop, in its congenial and permitted work. 

What it is we license. 

Before a community calls an institution into existence , 
declares it right, and pledges protection to it, the people 
should carefully consider what are its aims and effects. 

1st. It provides nothing useful. No fabrics to wear, 
foods to sustain the body, no implements of labor, no 
books to inform the mind, no article of comfort for the 
home. Nothing that adorns civilization, elevates society, 
or adds a single impulse of good to the community, can 
be found on its shelves or within its four walls. 

If every dram-shop in America should be burned to- 
morrow, the country would not lose a single iota in all 
that goes to clothe, feed, develop and beautify her 
millions. 

2d. It encourages idleness. A dram-shop immediately 
reduces "loafing" to a fine art. It is a convenient place 
to "drop into." Some of the "boys" are always on hand. 
There is constantly something to hear or see. Games for 



29 G THE CURSE OF RUM. 

the ide hour are ever ready. Drinks are forthcoming at 
any moment, and stories and songs fill in the intervals. 
All are invited and welcome to stay. And thus the dram- 
shop is continually turning the active and industrious into 
the idle and shiftless. Thus it is a standing peril to the 
children in its neighborhood. 

3d. It is a school for tippling. The principal object of 
the dram-shop is to get sober people to tipple, and tipplers 
to drink to excess. It exists for no other purpose. . If it 
succeeds in doing this, its gains increase ; if it fails, it 
starves and dies. 

Unless it is able to turn sober children into drinking 
men and women, it must cease with the present generation. 
So its aim is to debauch each generation of children. It 
greedily eyes the school and home and sets itself to trap 
the innocent. 

The "Stand" is chosen in the most public resorts ; the 
temptations are made as alluring as possible, and the bar- 
keeper is selected with this point in view ; the host puts 
on his blandest manner — all to influence custom, that is, 
to induce sober people to tipple and tipplers to drink more 
and more. In no other way can they reap their harves 
of gain. 

4th. It breeds disorder, vice, poverty and crime. We 
would scarcely ever hear of a brawl or fight, if it were not 
for the dram-shops. When people are cool and collected, 
and masters of themselves, there is almost perfect peace 
and quiet. But the dram-shop changes all these conditions . 



THE CURSE OF RtTM. 2§7 

It collects in heated rooms all sorts of characters, the 
vicious and the innocent. It frenzies them with strong 
drink, launches them into the wildest disorder and the 
bloodiest quarrels. Nine-tenths of all the crimes against 
good order, decency and the person . are the traceable 
outcome of the dram-shops. Thus, idleness breeds mis- 
chief ; the vicious corrupt the innocent ; the vulgar, in- 
decent and blasphemous gradually poison purity ; wages 
are squandered, self-respect is lost, passions are inflamed 
and the seeds of crime sown broadly. No words can 
portray the mischief and misery that brood and breed in 
the dram-shops of our country. If malicious ingenuity 
had racked its brain for a thousand years, it could have 
devised no more thorough and efficient agency of corrup- 
tion than the saloons. 

5th. It antagonizes every influence of home, school and 
church. The saloon rivals the home, and in innumerable 
instance robs it of loved ones, breaks it up and ruins it 
irretrievably. 

There is no community cursed with a dram-shop, but 
can point to one or more ruined homes as monuments of 
its terrible and deadly antagonism. The saloon nullifies 
the work of the school. It renders parents indifferent to 
the education of their children ; it brings poverty and rags, 
and so keeps little ones from schools, or it drives them 
out on the streets to beg and steal. A large percentage 
of the children of our country are grown up in utter or 
comparative ignorance because of such hindering and 



298 THE CURSE OF RUM. 

corrupting influences. The saloon blocks the path of the. 
church. The christian church spends millions of dollars 
to-day in the field of foreign missions, sends out hundreds 
of missionaries, and makes thousands of converts each 
year. But for every one convert she makes in other lands, 
the saloon destroys full one hundred souls in christian 
countries. And here among our pulpits and by the very 
side of preachers, it is safe to say that the dram-shops 
lead as many downward as the churches lead upward. 

We are asked, then, to license, either high or low, an 
institution which provides nothing useful or beautiful; 
causes and encourages idleness ; teaches tippling and 
drunkenness ; breeds disorder, vice, poverty and crime ; 
antagonizes our homes, schools and churches. Can we, 
dare we, call such institutions into existence, set them up 
in our midst, sanction their work, and protect them in it? 
Are the interests of our homes, our society, our children 
and our neighbors to be sacrificed to such a demand ? 

And for whose interest? 

That one in five hundred may become a rum-seller and 
make a lazy living at the expense of all we hold dear ; 
that the other four hundred and ninety-nine may bear the 
burden and suffer the misery. 

WHAT THE VOTER DOES BY LICENSING THE SALE OF STRONG- 
DRINK. 

Christian voter, before you cast your ballot for the 
dram-shops, please think that by licensing it you compro- 
mise with- wrong. Suppose a man comes to you and says : 



THE CURSE OF RUM. 299 

"Sir, you have a nice boy growing up there. I will pay 
you one hundred dollars if you will give me the liberty to 
teach him to drink ardent spirits. I will not compel him, 
but simply use attractive display, and persuade him." 

You indignantly repel the awful proposition. But a 
friend standing near says, "You might as well take the 
hundred dollars ; if you refuse, he will get your boy in 
some secret and illicit way, and teach him to drink. 
Your boy will learn to drink all the same, and you will 
have the hundred dollars." And yet you repel with per- 
fect abhorrence, the suggestion that you should allow any 
one for a money consideration, to attempt the ruin of your 
boy.- But when a man goes to your corporation and says, 
"I will give you one hundred dollars, if you will allow me 
to teach as many of the boys in your county, or city, as I 
can allure to drink." "What do you say? In the first 
case, the man wishes to try his arts upon one boy, and 
that one is yours. In the second, he proposes to try his 
arts on all the boys, yours included. It would have been 
infamous for you to have accepted his money and de- 
livered your boy over to his seductions ; is it not all the 
more infamous for you to vote to take the money and de- 
liver all the boys of the corporation over to his wiles. 
You would not compromise with wrong when the proposi- 
tion for private corruption was made. A thousand times 
less should you do so when it is proposed to attempt a 
wholesale and public corruption. 

You now go into partnership with the traffic. When 



300 the crass of term. 

you license the saloon you practically say: "Give us a 
portion of your gains and you keep the remainder." You 
thus become the silent partner in the business, and are 
paid for your silence. The saloon-keeper ruins your 
neighbor's son ; you can say nothing ; you will get your 
percentage of profits made out of his ruin. The saloon 
destroys a happy home, and mother and children sit weep- 
ing and broken-hearted in its ashes. Unredeemable ruin, 
sorrow and poverty hang like a sable pall over that once 
peaceful and happy home. The serpent of inebriation 
crept stealthily in ; the clouds gathered one by one ; at 
length the storm burst upon that home in its wildest fury, 
and the once happy family became engulfed in utter ruin. 
But you must be silent, for in your pockets clinks a por- 
tion of the gold and silver into which that happy home 
was transmuted. And when at the end of the year the 
rum-seller counts up his gains — while outside you behold 
the ruin, the vice, the misery and sorrow which has been 
wrought — he invites you in, and with almost demoniac leer 
says to you : "I know it looks fearful out there, but I 
have the gains and here is your share, sir. We're part- 
ners, you know." 

Can you partnership the traffic ? 

You lend it respectability and sanction. The liquor 
traffic without license is a vagabond, a bankrupt, an out- 
law. It slinks away into dark places with the brand of 
Cain on its brow whoever finds it may slay it. And Cain- 
like, it kills without mercy ; all who drink it must inev- 



THE CURSE OF RUM. 301 

itably sink beneath its vital touch. The very moment you 
license it, it is entitled to claim full citizenship ; it lifts its 
head boldly on your best streets ; it is recognized as full 
brother to every useful and legitimate business ; it wears 
the full flowing garments of respectability and sanction, 
and leans for support on your schools, your churches and 
your laws. When it struck a blow before, it was furtive- 
ly and in constant dread of punishment ; now it bears the 
sword in full view of all, and slays right and left. It en- 
larges the borders of its garment, and with all the prestige 
of city and State authority launches out into its congenial 
work. 

To all appeals and remonstrances it can then triumph- 
antly reply, "I have the people and the law at my back, 
sir, and my business is as good as any other." Every 
voter who casts his ballot for license practically throws 
his own mantle of character and respectability about the 
traffic and endorses its work. You arm the rum-seller for 
the work. The saloon is ready in essence. There is the 
man who wants to sell. There is the place completely 
fitted up where he wishes to sell. There are the liquors 
in bottle and keg which he is ready to sell. But the door 
is barred, bottle is undisturbed, the man is waiting and 
no work of demoralization has commenced, and it will not 
commence until you and the other voters order it. Legally 
and virtually the machinery of destruction is motionless 
until you give the word. That word is the license power. 
Withhold it and all is well ; give it, and immediately the 



302 THE CtTRSE OF RUM. 

evil work begins. Do you not see how you— the voters- 
give potency and activity to the dram-shop? You arm it. 
You erect a citadal for it out of which it issues; to the 
constant attack. You place the law and the police behind 
it, and no matter how many it slays and destroys, no 
vengeance can overtake it. Without license all is differ- 
ent. It then has no abiding and secure place. It haunts 
the alleys and dark places away from the law. Wherever 
it shows its hand the law descends upon it. If it injures, 
the injured can demand redress. It is hunted by the min- 
ions of the law, and has the registered condemnation of 
the people hung over against it, a continually impending 
sentence. You become responsible for what it does. 

When the unlicensed dram shop plies its illicit trade, and 
works its evil, the whole weight and responsibility falls ; Qn 
the head of the law-breaker. Him the law holds guilty in 
the sight of heaven. When you license it, you, the voters, 
share the responsibility for all the ruin that is wrought. 

Has it rifled a home ? You made it possible, and as 
the just eye of God looks down upon the desolate earth 
and listens to the cry of the lone ones for vengeance, He 
sees the poor over-tempted, appetite-ridden one at whose 
feet lies part of the guilt ; He sees the rum-seller behind 
the bar who pitilessly fed the passion for drink, which 
finally burned out all sense of love and duty ; and He sees 
behind all, the men who placed the dram-seller in the posi- 
tion to cause this ruin, and He holds them responsible. 

Arise quickly, O Christian voter, and come out from this 



THE CURSE OF RUM. 303 

awful partnership which throws upon your soul part guilt 
for every broken heart, every saddened home, every 
wrecked life ; which, but for the saloon you placed in their 
way might have been singing for joy, brightened . with 
sunny hopes, and filled with joy and peace, aud full of 
refining influence. Voters, as you love your lives, peace, 
and your safety, consider well the matter before you 
rivet the shackles of rum forever upon your country 
and upon your future generations. There may be a few 
dollars secured by a license fee for a part support of the 
paupers it makes ; but it cannot restore the lost and ruined 
or atone for the crime committed through its influence. 
Macey Warner, who was hanged in Jefferson, Ind., 
for murder, made the following speech while on the gal- 
lows ; "If any of you take a glass of whiskey, before 
you place it to your lips, think of Macey Warner, and 
look into the bottom of the glass and see if you can't see 
a rope there." Alas ! how true. There may not be a rope 
in every glass, but there is in every glass of rum, a thread 
that weaves the rope, and he who persists in taking 
enough to weave the rope, must surely expect the gal- 
lows will end a career of crime, brought about by the in- 
fluence of strong drink. 

THE LIPS THAT TOUCH LIQUOR. 

"You are coming to me, but not as of yore, 
When I hastened to welcome your ring at the door; 
For I trusted that he who stood waiting me then, 
Was the brightest and truest, the noblest of men. 



304 THE CURSE OF RUM. 

Your lips on my own wheu they printed 'farewell' 
Had never been soiled by the 'beverage of hell,' 
And they come to me now with Bacchanal sign — 
But the lips that touch liquor can never touch mine. 

Oh, how it amazed me when first in your face 
The pen of the 'Rum-Fiend' had written disgrace, 
I turned me in silence and tears from that breath, 
All poisoned and foul from the chalice of death. 
It shattered the hopes I had treasured to last ; 
It darkened the future and clouded the past ; 
It shattered my idol and ruined the shrine — 
For the lips that touch liquor shall never touch mine. 

I loved you ; oh, dearer than language can tell ! 
And you saw it ; you proved it too well ; 
But the man of my love was far other than he 
Who now from the tap room comes reeling to me. 
In manhood and honor so noble and right — 
His heart was so true and his genius so bright; 
And his soul was unstained, unpolluted by wine ; 
But the lips that touch liquor can never touch mine. 

You promised reform but I trusted in vain ; 
Your pledges are made to be broken again. 
And the lover so false to his promises now 
Will not as a husband be true to his vow. 
The words mtist be spoken that bid you depart, 
Though the effort to speak them should shatter my heart; 
Though in silence with blighted affections I pine, 
Yet the lips that touch liquor can never touch mine. 

If one spark in your bosom of virtue remain, 

Go fan it with prayer 'till it kindles again ; 

Resolve, with 'God helping,' in future to be 

From wine and its follies unshackled and free ; < 



THE CURSE OF RUM. 305 

And when you have conquered this foe of your soul, 
In manhood and honor beyond its control, 
This heart will again beat responsive to thine, 
And the lips free from liquor be welcome to mine.' , 

"Politics are but the application of morals to public 
affairs." — diaries Sumner. 

"The great end of society is to protect the weakness 
of individuals by strength of the community." — Black- 
stone . 

"The Government of the United States was erected by 
the free voice and joint will of the people of America for 
their common defence and general welfare." — James Kent. 

The wisdom of the principles of the prohibition party 
seems based upon these principles, and further more is dem- 
onstrated by the late decision of the Supreme Court of the 
United States, which expressly declares that it is the duty 
of the State Legislature to protect by law the health and 
morals of the people, and it has power to prohibit both 
the manufacture and sale of intoxicants, as it is injurious 
to both the health and morals of the people, and degrades 
and demoralizes all who indulge in its excessive use. We 
see in our large towns and cities, the corrupting influence 
of the traffic is felt more heavily than in the rural districts, 
and smaller villages ; the gambling house is not without its 
influence as a stimulator to crime ; it is the friend and com- 
panion of the brothel, and stimulates the low, ill-bred, 
and the vicious to dark deeds and crimes of every 
hue. 



306 THE CURSE OF RUM. 

A VOICE FROM THE POOR-HOUSE. 

"My dear friends, " said the doctor, "I favor 

License for selling of rum. 
These fanatics tell us with horror 

Of the mischief liquor has done ; 
I say as a man and physician, 

The system's requirements are such, 
That unless we, at times, assist nature, 

The body and soul suffer much. 
'Tis a blessing when worn out and weary — 

A mod'rate drink now and then." 
From the minister by the pulpit 

Came an audible murmur, "Amen!" 

,,Tis true many have fallen, 

Become filthy drunkards, and worse, 
Harmed others. No ; I dont uphold them ; 

They made their blessings a curse. 
Must I be denied for their sinning ? 

Must the weak ones govern the race ? 
Why every good thing God has given 

Is only a curse out of place. 
'Tis only excess that destroys us ; 

A little is good now and then." 
From the white-haired, pious old deacon 

Came a fervent, loud-spoken "Amen!" 

A murmur came up from the people, 
From the lips of the listening throng ; 

They came from their homes with a purpose, 
To crush out and trample the wrong. 

But their time-honored, worthy physician* 
Grown portly in person and purse, 



THE CURSE OF HUM. 307 

Had shown in the demon of darkness, 

A blessing instead of a curse. 
And now they were eager, impatient, 

To vote when the moment should come. 
They felt it their right and their duty 

To license the selling of rum. 

Then up from a seat in the corner, 

From the midst of the murmuring throng, 
From among the people there gathered 

To crush out and trample out wrong, 
Rose a woman her thin hands uplifted, 

While out from her frost-covered hair 
Gazed a face of such agonized whiteness, 

A face of such utter despair, 
The 7ast throng grew hushed in a moment, 

Grew silent with terror and dread ; 
They gazed on the face of the woman 

As we gaze on the face of the dead. 

Then the hush and the silence was broken ; 

A voice so shrill and clear 
Rang out through the room: "Look upon me, 

You wonder what chance brought me here ; 
You know me and now you shall hear me. 

I speak to you lovers of wine, 
For once I was rich, young and happy 

Home, husband and children were mine." 

"Where are they ? I ask you where are they? 

My beautiful home went to pay 
The deacon who sold them the poison 

That dragged them down lower each day. 
I plead, I besought, I entreated ; 

I showed them the path they were in ; 



308 THE CURSE OF RUM. 

But the deacon said — they believed him.— 
That only excess was a sin." 

"Where are they ? I ask you where are they ? 

False teachers of God's holy word ! 
My husband — my kind loving husband — 

Whom my tears and prayers might have stirred, 
Remembered your teachings, turned from me— 

Me kneeling and pleading with him. 
'Twas a God given blessing, you told him, 

And only excess was a sin." 

"And where are my boys ? God forgive you! 

They heeded your counsels not mine; 
You, doctor, beloved and respected, 

You could see no danger in wine. 
For my boys so strong and manly, 

How could I ever hope to win, 
When the doctor said 'twas a blessing 

And only excess was a sin." 

"My husband, so noble and loving, 

My boys so proud and so brave, 
They lie side by side in the church yard, 

Each filling a drunkard's grave. 
I have come from the poor-house to tell 

My story, and now it is done ; 
Go on, if you will in your madness, 

And license the selling of rum." 

"Before the great judgment eternal, 

When the last dread moment has come, 

They will stand there to witness against you, 
My dear ones, the victims of rum. / 

When the shadows of earth are lifted, 
And life's secret thoughts are laid bare, 



THE CURSE OF RUM. 309 

By the throne of the Great Eternal, 
I shall witness against you there." 

— Rose Hartwick Thorpe. 

THE DRUNKARD. 

A loathsome object to behold, you say, 
O'ercome by wine and fallen by the way ; 
But once the pride of some fond mother's heart, 
Loved and respected he — nay, do not start . 
'Twas fashionable to quaff the sparkling wine ; 
The juicy nectar from the tender vine, 
Tasted far sweeter when by ladie's hand 
The glass was proffered with a smile so bland. 

Well-bred was he and versed in etiquette ; 
A gentleman in every sense and yet 
Conforming to the customs of the day and night, 
Worked the sad change which tortures thus your sight ; 
We little thought that such could be a slave, 
Depraved in appetite and weakly crave 
The baneful, soul-destroying draft, 
Approved of hell with all its curses fraught. 

Yet it is so ; behold the victim lies 
A very sot before your shrinking eyes. 
He never meant to be the wretch you see, 
Or to the tempter bend the captive knee ; 
He never meant his manhood thus to sink, 
Or yield himself a holocaust to drink ; 
In moderation only, simply this at first, 
Then came excess, to quench a raging thirst. 

Accursed be the so-called social glass ! 
Death lurks within; and none can safely pass 
Unscathed, who tamper in the least 
With ribald Bacchus in unholy feast. 



310 THE CURSE OF RUM. 

Ere beauty gayly banters one to sip, 

Or puts the bottle to a neighbor's lip, 

'Twere well to pause, the curse pronounced may fall 

And smite the temptress, holding her in thrall. 

O, men and women christians of the land, 
Will ye extend a kindly helping hand 
To raise the fallen, and his course to stay ? 
Or Levite-like, pass by another way? 
'Tis worth the effort ; aye if but to win 
One wayward mortal from a path of sin ; 
'Tis worth the effort ; worth the effort well, 
To save one drunkard from a drunkard's hell. 

J. H. M. 

"If you do not wish for his kingdom, don't pray for it. 
But if you do, you must do more than pray ; you must 
work for it." — John Buskin. 



A FAMILY PLEDGE. 

The foregoing work being carefully compiled and writ- 
ten upon unmistakable facts, and in the interest and wel- 
fare of the American people, with true aim to liberty, 
peace and happiness, and setting forth in a true light the 
vast amount of suffering, misery and crime arising from 
the use and influence of strong drink, therefore we here- 
by pledge ourselves to use our every influence and labor 
for the suppression of the liquor traffic, and we further 
pledge ourselves to use every means that shall seem 
to us reasonable and possible to place a copy of this work 
in every home in America. 

Arnold H. Blankmax, Author. 
Lena Blankmax, wife of the Author. 
Fannie M. Blankmax, daughter of the Author. 
Charlie H. Blankman, son of the Author. 

And when you've toiled and labored. 

Do not think it's all in vain ; 

If you can't see the harvest yield, 

Or reap the golden grain, 

Do not get discouraged, or be found 

With idle hands at rest, 

We are the workers, we must sow, 

And leave with God the rest. 



I 



